According to a police official, Karan Johar was on the list of people Lawrence Bishnoi’s gang planned to extort. An alleged member of the Bishnoi gang, Siddhesh Kamble alias Mahakal, has told investigators about this. However, a senior official cautioned that these claims had not yet been verified, and that there was a possibility that Kamble’s statements contained an element of bragging.
According to a police official, Kamble was a close aide of Santosh Jadhav, a suspected shooter in the murder of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala.
While Kamble is being held by Pune rural police for an earlier case in the district, teams from the Delhi Police’s Special Cell, the Punjab Police, and the Mumbai Crime Branch have questioned him in connection with the Moosewala murder and a threat letter received by Bollywood actor Salman Khan and his father Salim Khan earlier this month.
According to the official, Kamble revealed a lot of information about the Moosewala murder conspiracy in his statements before the investigating teams and named Santosh Jadhav and one Nagnath Suryavanshi as having been involved in the killing.
He also revealed future plans of the Bishnoi gang, which is suspected of being behind Moosewala’s murder, according to the official.
He claimed that the gang planned to extort Rs 5 crore from Johar by threatening him.
According to Kamble’s statement, Vikram Brar, the brother of Canadian gangster Goldie Brar, discussed these plans with him via the Instagram and Signal apps.
A woman involved in drug trafficking and a doctor accused of desecrating a Sikh holy book were also on the list, according to the official.
He added that investigators are still verifying Kamble’s claims.
Jadhav and his aide Navnath Suryavanshi were apprehended earlier this week in Bhuj, Gujarat, by Pune rural police. Following Moosewala’s murder in May, the Bishnoi gang decided to threaten Bollywood celebrities in order to capitalise on the media attention.
Threatening Salman Khan with extortion was part of Vikram Brar’s plan, he said.
According to police, Vikram Brar sent three members of the Bishnoi gang to Mumbai to deliver the threat letter to Salman Khan, citing information provided by Kamble.
However, a senior official with the Pune Rural Police warned that they were still investigating Kamble’s claim that Karan Johar was a target for extortion. “Some of the accused’s confessions contain elements of bragging. The goal of boasting is to gain publicity and increase extortion amounts. This is a common occurrence in Punjab and neighbouring states. They (the gangsters) want their names to be linked to high-profile cases “stated the officer
Five gangsters have claimed responsibility for the Moosewala murder, but none of them were present on the scene on May 29 in Punjab’s Mansa district, he claims.
“Mahakal is a tiny fish. Vikram Brar had informed him about Karan Johar. Why did Brar tell this to Mahakal, a foot soldier? Brar wants to increase his clout and impress young people like Mahakal “He continued.