Mumbai: Mumbai Police have arrested a 30-year-old IT engineer from Bengaluru for allegedly extorting and threatening Bollywood celebrities while posing as a member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. The development comes amid growing concerns over threats against film personalities following the firing incident involving actor Tiger Shroff.
The latest incident came to light after actor Ayushmann Khurrana reportedly received a threatening audio message on Wednesday. The Mumbai Crime Branch has now taken action and detained the accused, identified as Vaibhav Mishra.
Accused Allegedly Used Lawrence Bishnoi Gang’s Name
According to the police, Vaibhav Mishra is an IT engineer by profession. He allegedly sent threatening audio messages to film celebrities by claiming to represent the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.
Investigators said the accused had been targeting film personalities living in Mumbai through different methods over the past few days. Police are questioning him to establish how many celebrities received threats and whether anyone else was involved.
Police Find No Link With Lawrence Bishnoi Gang
In the threatening audio message sent to Ayushmann Khurrana, the accused allegedly identified himself as a member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang and demanded crores of rupees.
However, following his arrest, police clarified that no connection between the accused and the Lawrence Bishnoi gang had been established so far.
Tushar Kapoor Also Received a Threatening Message
A few days earlier, actor Tushar Kapoor had also reportedly received a threatening audio message. In that case, the sender had allegedly claimed to be Harry Boxer. During the initial investigation, police suspected that the audio message was fake.
Apart from this, reports had also emerged about threatening emails sent to Amitabh Bachchan and Diljit Dosanjh, warning of bomb attacks.
Mumbai Police Investigating the Motive
The Mumbai Police are now trying to determine which celebrities were targeted by Vaibhav Mishra and what motivated him to send the threats. Investigators are also examining whether the incidents are connected to an organised criminal network or whether an individual was using different gang names to intimidate celebrities.
