A man has been arrested for issuing a death threat to Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, police said today.
Mohammad Faizan Khan, a lawyer, was arrested from his residence in Chhattisgarh’s Raipur for making the threat call to the 59-year-old actor and demanding ₹ 50 lakh. He was arrested after he failed to appear before the Mumbai Police.
Faizan had earlier said his mobile phone – which was used to make the threatening call last week – was stolen. He also said that he filed a police case on November 2.
A case against him was registered by the police under sections 308(4) (extortion involving threats of death or serious injury) and 351(3)(4) (criminal intimidation) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) as the threat call was made from a phone number registered in his name.
Shah Rukh Khan – called ‘King Khan’ by his fans – received a death threat last October; this was after the success of two movies – ‘Pathaan’ and ‘Jawan’.
Mumbai Police had then upped the actor’s protective cover, giving him a Y+ security blanket. This ensures he is accompanied by six armed personnel around the clock; earlier he had two security personnel, also armed, accompanying him.
The threat to Mr Khan follows a series of threats issued to his fellow actor Salman Khan, allegedly from the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.
Last week, a 32-year-old man from Rajasthan was arrested in Karnataka after issuing a death threat to Salman Khan. This was a day after he received a threat from jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, who demanded he apologise at a temple (for the killing of a blackbuck, an endangered deer sacred to the Bishnoi community) or pay ₹ 5 crore.