Threat letter: Mumbai police record Salman Khan's statement, Bishnoi gang's role under scanner

Mumbai Police has recorded the statement of Bollywood actor Salman Khan in connection with a letter threatening him and his father, an official said on Tuesday.

Khan's statement was recorded on Monday evening before he left for Hyderabad, he said.

Earlier, the police had recorded the statement of the actor's father, noted screenplay writer Salim Khan, in connection with the probe.

Police had also enhanced the security around the actor's residence in suburban Bandra.

In Pics | Celebrities who received death threats

According to a police source, the letter said "Salim Khan, Salman Khan Bahot Jald Aapka Mooselwala Hoga... (Salim Khan, Salman Khan, very soon you will meet Moosewala's fate.)"

Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala was killed by unidentified assailants in Mansa district of Punjab last month.

An unidentified person dropped the letter on a bench at Bandra Bandstand where Salim Khan was sitting after a morning walk on Sunday. A case under section 506-II (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code has been registered at the Bandra police station.

Meanwhile, the Mumbai Police suspect the possible involvement of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang in the death threat, official sources told IANS.

Also Read — Lawrence Bishnoi questioned over threat letter to Salman Khan

Joint Commissioner of Police Vishwas Nangre-Patil met Home Minister Dilip Walse-Patil to brief him on the case. Nangre-Patil is understood to have briefed the minister on the probe status including suspicion that the potential attackers may have conducted a discreet recce of the Khans' local movements and their residence.

A Mumbai Police team is likely to leave for New Delhi to question Bishnoi on his suspected involvement in the threats to the Khan family, especially since he had earlier vowed to kill Salman Khan after the actor was accused in the Black Buck poaching case of 1998 in Rajasthan.

Taking serious cognisance, the Bandra police have lodged a first information report against unknown persons for issuing the death threats and launched their probe even as the Mumbai Police Crime Branch also started its own investigations.

The threat letter ends with a couple of initials including 'L.B.' which the police suspect refers to 'Lawrence Bishnoi' though the latter is understood to have denied any connection to the incident to the Delhi Police.

(With inputs from agencies)