Mumbai – Faizan Khan, a lawyer from Chhattisgarh, was arrested by Mumbai police on Tuesday for allegedly issuing a death threat and demanding INR 5 million from Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan.
Faizan, who resides in Raipur, was detained after the threatening phone call made to the Bandra police station in Mumbai was traced back to his phone. Following the call, authorities registered an extortion case under sections 308(4) (extortion involving threats of death or serious injury) and 351(3)(4) (criminal intimidation) of India’s criminal code.
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However, Faizan has denied the accusations, stating that he lost his phone on November 2 and had already filed a complaint about it. He suggested that the call might be part of a conspiracy to frame him. Faizan had planned to visit the police station on November 14 to record his statement but requested to do so virtually, citing concerns over the numerous threats he claimed to have received. He even wrote to the Mumbai Police Commissioner expressing his safety concerns.
Faizan had previously filed a case against Shah Rukh Khan at the Bandra police station, accusing the actor of promoting enmity between religious groups. Faizan claimed that the reason for being framed in this case stemmed from his objection to Shah Rukh’s 1993 film “Anjaam”, which depicted the killing and consumption of a deer, an act that the Bishnoi community, to which Faizan belongs, holds sacred. He emphasized that the Bishnoi community has deep religious ties to protecting deer, and any such depiction was offensive to them.
Faizan further suggested that his public criticism of Shah Rukh, including a YouTube video in which he linked the actor to alleged terror activities, may have led to the current situation.
Earlier this year, Salman Khan also became embroiled in a controversy with the Bishnoi gang, who have been targeting him since 1998 for his involvement in killing two blackbucks, a species revered by the community. The gang’s leader, Lawrence Bishnoi, has previously threatened Salman with assassination.
