Why Salman Khan remains in Lawrence Bishnoi’s crosshairs

Three motorcycle-borne men allegedly opened fire at Bollywood actor Tiger Shroff in Mumbai’s Juhu area on Sunday evening, leaving the actor unharmed but injuring two people, including his driver and an autorickshaw driver, police said. The Lawrence Bishnoi gang has reportedly claimed responsibility for the attack after gangster Anil Pandit claimed that he and Harman Sandhu were behind the shooting.

The story of Salman Khan and Lawrence Bishnoi is unusual even by the standards of Mumbai’s long and complicated relationship with the underworld. It began with a wildlife case dating back to 1998, and eventually developed into a sustained campaign of threats against one of Hindi cinema’s biggest stars.

Over the years, the name of Bishnoi, a jailed gangster accused of running an organised criminal network, has become difficult to separate from discussions about Salman’s security. Every new report of a shooting, threat or alleged gang-linked attack involving a Bollywood personality raises the same question, whether the target is Salman Khan, or is the message intended for the wider film industry around him?

The latest reports concerning Tiger Shroff brings the Bishnoi gang back into the headlines.

To understand why Salman continues to occupy the centre of this story, it is necessary to go back nearly three decades.

The roots of the conflict lie in October 1998, when Salman Khan was shooting for Hum Saath-Saath Hain in Rajasthan. He was accused of hunting blackbucks, a protected species, during the film's outdoor schedule near Jodhpur. Other actors from the film were also implicated in related cases.

The case acquired significance beyond the question of wildlife conservation because the blackbuck holds particular religious and cultural significance for the Bishnoi community. Founded by Guru Jambheshwar in the 15th century, the community is known for its commitment to protecting trees and wildlife.

For Lawrence Bishnoi, who belongs to this community, the blackbuck case became a stated reason for targeting Salman. In public statements over the years, Bishnoi has demanded an apology from the actor and has framed the dispute as a matter of justice for the community.

Salman was convicted by a Jodhpur court in April 2018 and sentenced to five years in prison in the blackbuck poaching case. He was granted bail shortly afterwards.

Lawrence Bishnoi emerged from student politics in Punjab and subsequently became associated with organised crime. He has faced numerous criminal cases, including allegations involving murder, extortion and criminal conspiracy.

The conflict moved into a more dangerous phase on April 14, 2024, when two motorcycle-borne men allegedly opened fire outside Salman Khan's residence at Galaxy Apartments in Bandra, Mumbai.

The incident was particularly alarming because the shots were fired outside the actor's home, where he lived with members of his family. It transformed a series of threats into a matter of immediate physical security.

Mumbai Police investigated the shooting, arrested several accused and established links to the Bishnoi gang.

For Salman, the incident reinforced the connection between the blackbuck dispute and his personal security. For the film industry, it raised a larger concern, that if an actor with extensive security arrangements could be targeted outside his residence, how secure were the people working with him?

The murder of former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique in October 2024 added another troubling dimension to the story.

Siddique was shot dead in Mumbai on October 12, 2024. His killing triggered a major police investigation, and the Bishnoi gang was publicly linked to the crime through claims attributed to people associated with it.

Siddique was known to be close to Salman Khan, and their association was widely reported. That relationship made the murder particularly unsettling in the context of the threats against the actor.

By now, people in Khan's personal or professional orbit could also find themselves drawn into a wider atmosphere of fear and speculation.

Even a new incident involving another Bollywood personality can revive questions about Salman and Bishnoi.

For decades, Bollywood has had a complicated history with organised crime, including extortion demands, threats to film producers and attempts to influence business dealings. The nature of the problem has changed, but the underlying vulnerability remains, that high-profile individuals can become targets because they are wealthy, visible and commercially valuable.

The Salman–Bishnoi episode is distinctive because the publicly stated grievance is not primarily about a film deal or a financial dispute. It is linked to a wildlife case and a demand for an apology. Yet the alleged use of threats and violence brings the conflict into the realm of organised crime.

The immediate question is not whether Salman Khan will apologise, but whether the threat environment can be brought under control through effective investigation, prosecution and disruption of the alleged criminal network.

Salman Khan's association with Lawrence Bishnoi persists because it brings together three powerful elements, a high-profile wildlife case, a gangster's publicly stated grievance and a series of serious security incidents that have kept the conflict alive in public consciousness.

Ultimately, the story is no longer only about why one gangster says he wants to target one actor. It is about how a decades-old grievance can be used to sustain a climate of intimidation and how notoriety can become a weapon.