Bollywood actor Aamir Khan has allegedly been threatened by individuals claiming to be associates of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, with Mumbai Police on Saturday launching a probe into the authenticity of a viral social media post and voice note carrying the alleged warning.
Mumbai Police Commissioner Deven Bharti confirmed that the police were examining whether the social media post and the audio clip were genuine.
"We are examining the veracity of the social media post and voice clip," Bharti said.
No complaint has been filed by Khan or his representatives in connection with the alleged threat.
According to police, the purported threat surfaced through a social media post and an accompanying voice note allegedly released by two men identifying themselves as Arzu Bishnoi and Tyson Bishnoi, who claimed to be associates of Lawrence Bishnoi.
In the messages, the duo accused Khan of promoting "love jihad", apparently referring to the actor's recent marriage to Gauri Spratt, and warned that those encouraging such acts would face consequences.
The term "love jihad" is used by some right-wing groups to describe an alleged conspiracy in which Muslim men target Hindu women for marriage with the intention of converting them to Islam. There is no evidence supporting the existence of such an organised conspiracy.
The voice note also mentioned the recent case of a 13-year-old girl in Rajasthan's Sri Ganganagar district who was allegedly abducted, trafficked and sexually assaulted. It further warned political leaders against extending protection to any of the accused in the case.
The authenticity of the social media post and voice note has not been independently verified.
Lawrence Bishnoi and his gang have previously been accused of targeting actor Salman Khan. The hostility reportedly stems from the 1998 blackbuck poaching case and has since escalated to repeated death threats and the firing outside the actor's Mumbai residence in April 2024.
More recently, US authorities charged Lawrence Bishnoi and his close aide Satinderjeet Singh alias Goldy Brar in connection with an alleged plot to assassinate Khalistan separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada.
Earlier this year, unidentified assailants fired at least five rounds at filmmaker Rohit Shetty's nine-storey residence in Mumbai's Juhu locality, with one bullet hitting the glass facade of a gym inside the building.
In April, Mumbai Police filed a 1,624-page chargesheet before a special MCOCA court against 17 accused in the case. While 15 have been arrested, Shubham Lonkar and Arzu Bishnoi remain wanted. Police had earlier said the two had claimed responsibility for the firing through a social media post.
(With inputs from PTI)