Mumbai Police have arrested a 30-year-old Bengaluru-based IT engineer, Vaibhav Mishra, in connection with threatening audio messages sent to actors Ayushmann Khurrana and Tusshar Kapoor. Investigators say he allegedly used Instagram to deliver demands running to crores of rupees, and that he appears to have borrowed the name of the Lawrence Bishnoi network rather than worked for it.
A reputed network, a borrowed name
Lawrence Bishnoi is a jailed gangster whose alleged criminal network has been linked to extortion, shootings and targeted attacks. Investigators believe he has maintained influence through associates outside prison. His name became a fixture in Bollywood security conversations through repeated threats against Salman Khan, which have been linked to the 1998 blackbuck poaching case — the Bishnoi community regards the blackbuck as sacred.
The conflict escalated with a firing outside Khan’s Mumbai residence in April 2024, an attack police linked to the Bishnoi network. The October 2024 murder of politician Baba Siddique, a known Khan associate, further intensified concern. The gang’s name has also surfaced in reported threats involving filmmaker Rohit Shetty, actor Ranveer Singh and comedian Kapil Sharma.
What the recent cases show
- 18 October 2026: Gunmen allegedly linked to the network opened fire at Tiger Shroff’s car in Juhu; Mumbai Police told a court the attack was meant to create fear and support extortion.
- Tusshar Kapoor: An audio message from someone claiming to be alleged associate “Harry Boxer” demanded ₹5 crore; police said the voice did not match available samples.
- Ayushmann Khurrana: A threatening audio demanded crores of rupees; the trail led police to the Bengaluru engineer.
The common thread in the latest cases, police say, is impersonation. In Kapoor’s case, the claimed voice did not match samples of Harry Boxer, also known as Hari Chand Jat. In Mishra’s case, officers have not so far found evidence connecting him to the gang, and said he appeared to have used the fear created by recent gang-linked incidents to try to make quick money. He has yet to be fully interrogated, so his motive and any possible gang link remain open.
Why the distinction matters
For Hindi cinema, the problem is now two-layered. Genuine threats and shootings have built a climate of fear, and that climate has itself become an asset for extortionists who may have no proven connection to the network. A criminal reputation can be borrowed the way a brand is borrowed: it makes an amateur’s demand sound credible and the cost of refusal sound dangerous.
Celebrities are visible targets because their wealth is assumed, their schedules are public and any threat against them reliably generates coverage. The challenge for the industry and the police is to separate actual gang operations from copycat schemes, and to verify each claim rather than accept a notorious name at face value.
The recent arrests address the immediate threats against Khurrana and Kapoor. The wider question remains the influence the Lawrence Bishnoi name appears to hold over Bollywood, and whether others will try to profit from that fear.
Source: India Weekly
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