Man who issued death threat to Salman Khan traced to Gujarat village

Mumbai: The man who allegedly issued a death threat to Bollywood actor Salman Khan has been traced to a village in Gujarat’s Vadodara district and is mentally unstable, Mumbai Police said on Tuesday.

The 26-year-old man, a resident of a village in Waghodia taluka of Vadodara, has been served a notice to appear before the Mumbai Police for questioning.

On Sunday, Khan received a death threat via a message sent to the official WhatsApp number of the Worli Transport Department. The threat came exactly a year after two unidentified men on a motorcycle fired four shots outside his Bandra residence.

Following the latest threat, Worli police registered a case and upgraded security arrangements at the actor’s home in Galaxy Apartments.

According to the message, the sender threatened to either storm Khan’s residence or target his vehicle with explosives.

Within 24 hours of registering the FIR, police identified the sender as Mayank Pandya, 25, and detained him at his residence in Vadodara.

“Using technical intelligence, we tracked Pandya to his home. As he is undergoing treatment for mental illness, we have served him a notice and asked him to join the investigation,” said a police officer.

This is the latest in a series of threats against the actor, who has been under heightened security since his conviction in the 1998 Blackbuck poaching case.

On April 14 last year, two men on a motorbike fired four rounds outside his residence, prompting Khan to stop his routine of greeting fans from his balcony. He later installed bulletproof glass at his apartment.

In 2004, the Lawrence Bishnoi gang had claimed responsibility for the firing, with a Facebook message attributed to Bishnoi taking credit for the attack.

IANS