Author, Amrita Kadam
Designation, BBC Marathi Correspondent
Published 42 minutes ago
Reading Time: 11 minutes
On the morning of August 12, 1997, T-Series owner Gulshan Kumar had gone to a temple in Andheri for darshan as usual. When he came out after having darshan, bullets were fired at him.
He got shot. They started running to save their lives and entered a nearby public toilet. The attackers also came after them. He fired 15 bullets at Gulshan Kumar.
A total of 16 bullets were fired at Gulshan Kumar. He died.
The attacker's mobile phone was on during the firing. The person on the other side could hear everything. The attacker was ordered to do so so that the person sitting on the other side could hear the entire incident. The person who gave this order was gangster Abu Salem.
All these incidents are mentioned in detail in Hussain Zaidi's book 'Dongri to Dubai'.
This thriller-like incident, which lasted for 15 to 20 minutes, shocked Mumbai and the film industry. This murder over refusal to pay ransom was a shocking and horrifying incident for the film industry.
Even before this, producer Mukesh Duggal was murdered in March 1997. The strings of this murder were also linked to the underworld.
This was the period when the criminal world started taking 'commercial' interest in Bollywood. From here the series of threats and attacks started to terrorize the film industry.
This period of fear prevalent in the film industry has once again come into limelight after the shooting of actor Tiger Shroff.
On Sunday (October 18), Bollywood actor Tiger Shroff's car was fired upon in Juhu area. Many news are being published regarding this matter. The police have so far detained or arrested 10 suspects.
Investigation is also being done into how the alleged smuggling of weapons took place in several states. Additionally, the alleged financial transactions made to the attackers are also being investigated.
This firing incident has again brought the name of Lawrence Bishnoi, one of India's most notorious gangsters, into the headlines. Soon after the attack, a screenshot of a post went viral on social media. It was claimed that this post was made by an alleged associate of the Bishnoi gang and he had taken responsibility for the attack.
An audio recording has also surfaced, in which a person calling himself Anil Pandit once again took responsibility for the attack. She also said that Tiger Shroff was targeted because of his relationship with actor Salman Khan.
However, Mumbai Police has not confirmed these claims. It is still not clear whether the Bishnoi gang was behind the firing attempt or not. Police are investigating who ordered the attack and what was the reason behind it.
The incident targeting Tiger Shroff follows a string of threats and attacks involving Bollywood celebrities. In 2024, there was firing outside Salman Khan's house, while earlier this year there was firing outside the house of film director Rohit Shetty.
These incidents have raised concerns about the prevalence of organized crime in the film industry. Besides, it has also refreshed the memories of a dark period in the criminal history of Mumbai.
The discussion about the closeness between the film industry and the underworld started with Haji Mastan.
Haji Mastan had great interest in Mumbai film industry. He not only produced many films but also married a struggling actress.
Journalist and writer Hussain Zaidi said, "Mastan was crazy about Madhubala in his youth and wanted to marry her. But Madhubala died untimely and even if she had been alive, Mastan would never have been able to marry her."
"At that time, an actress who looked like Madhubala was working in Mumbai. Her name was Veena Sharma alias Sona. Mastan proposed marriage to her and she immediately accepted. Mastan bought a house in Juhu for Sona and started living there with her."
Gradually, Mastan's position started strengthening in the VIP circle of Mumbai and people started forgetting his smuggling days. Haji Mastan had three daughters from his first wife. Later he adopted a son named Sundar Shekhar.
Sundar Shekhar had said, "Many people in the film industry were close to Baba. Raj Kapoor, Dilip Kumar and Sanjeev Kumar were prominent among them. During the shooting of the film 'Deewar', the film's writers Salim and Amitabh Bachchan often came to meet Baba, so that they could understand the character more deeply. Baba always combed his hair backwards. If someone started talking to him in English, he would repeatedly say 'Ya-Ya'."
Haji Mastan was attracted to the world of cinema. But after the 1990s, the underworld started taking commercial interest in cinema. There was money in this business and that is why many gangsters were attracted towards it.
In 1999, a spotboy became a film producer. The then superstar Salman Khan played the lead role in that film. This spotboy was Nazim Rizvi, a special henchman of Indian fugitive gangster and close associate of Dawood Ibrahim, Chhota Shakeel. The name of the film was 'Chori Chori Chupke Chupke'.
Former Director General of Police of Maharashtra and former Police Commissioner of Mumbai D. Shivanandan had investigated this entire matter. He has described this case in detail in his book 'The Brahmastra Unleashed'.
In 1999, Shivanandan got information from one of his sources. According to this, "Shakeel wanted to make a Hindi film with the money earned from terrorist activities. This money was to be transferred through Hawala to a millionaire diamond merchant and businessman. It was known that the businessman would deliver this money to the film producers. That businessman was Bharat Shah."
After receiving this information, Shivanandan met the then Additional Chief Secretary (Home) and obtained permission to tap Rizvi's phone. He got permission.
Shakeel had daily contact with Rizvi. Many other shocking revelations also emerged from these phone calls. These also included a plan to attack producer-director Rakesh Roshan because he had not responded to Shakeel's ransom demand.
Meanwhile, Shakeel and Rizvi were also discussing the promotion and release plans of their film.
Mumbai Crime Branch had registered FIR in all these cases in 2000. Nazim Rizvi and Abdul Rahim Khan were arrested. Bharat Shah was also arrested in January 2001. In this case, more than two chargesheets were filed under sections of Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act (MCOCA), Indian Penal Code and Indian Arms Act.
Of the 76 witnesses who were examined during the trial, 14 were Bollywood actors. But except Preity Zinta, all the other witnesses had testified against the criminal world. Shivanandan has written this in his book.
The trial continued for two years. Special court judge A.P. Bangal blamed Bharat Shah. Nazim Rizvi and Abdul Rahim were sentenced to six years' imprisonment.
The murder of Gulshan Kumar mentioned at the beginning of this story was an extreme attempt to spread terror in the film industry.
The name revealed in this attack was Abu Salem.
Salem, originally from Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh, had worked as a driver and delivery driver for Dawood Ibrahim's brother Anees Ibrahim before the 1993 bomb blasts.
Anees would sometimes give advice to Abu Salem over the phone. He had no direct contact with Dawood, but now he started feeling that Abu Salem had become 'sensible'.
According to Hussain Zaidi, in 1993, film actor Sanjay Dutt called Anees and told him that he was receiving threats and he needed some guns for his safety.
After this Anees called Abu Salem and said, "Go, give the machine gun to Sanju." This was the first time in Abu Salem's life that he met a film actor.
In a statement recorded after the Mumbai blasts, Abu Salem said that he was shocked to see the actor face to face. She hugged Sanjay Dutt at least three times.
However, later Sanjay Dutt said that he does not want so many guns and one gun is enough. Therefore Salem had to return with the gun.
The media named him 'Don', but at that time no major crime was registered against him. His biggest crime was supplying weapons. But after going to Dubai and working under Anees, he started threatening people over the phone. That's why people started considering him as 'Don'.
After this, Abu Salem hatched a conspiracy to murder film producer Gulshan Kumar and carried it out. After this incident he became infamous.
Senior journalist Chandramohan Puppala had given the news of Gulshan Kumar.
In an interview given to BBC News Hindi, he said about this, "Mumbai Police had already received information about the possibility of such an incident in this case. During that time, the goons used to call the newspaper offices. They used to try to convey their point of view or statement to the public through the journalists."
According to Puppala, journalists covering crime stories had contacts with police officers and sources in the criminal world. He used to write news based on information received from different sources.
Referring to the murder of Gulshan Kumar, Puppala said that information had come to light that he was receiving threats.
"At that time, some people took these threats seriously and made arrangements for their safety. At that time, goons tried to establish their terror and dominance by attacking someone."
Rakesh Roshan, father of producer-director and actor Hrithik Roshan, was attacked on January 21, 2000. This attack happened when he rejected the ransom demand of a gangster.
Rajeev Rai, director of successful films like 'Gupta', was also attacked in 1997. Rajiv Rai was attacked by five assailants allegedly associated with the Abu Salem gang in central Mumbai.
Rai was fired upon when he was leaving his office. Rai had received threats earlier also.
Therefore he was provided security and bodyguards. These bodyguards stopped the attackers. It is also said that one attacker was injured during the encounter.
Regarding the alleged financial transactions and investments made by the underworld in the film industry, Chandramohan Puppala said that seeing the possibility of earning money from the film business, the gangsters thought that they could invest the cash and make profits from it.
Puppala says that establishing contacts with film stars was also a source of attraction for the goons.
He also believed that showing a close relationship with a celebrity could increase his identity and strengthen his position and influence in the criminal world.
According to Puppala, some goons used to invite film actors to parties and events. He also mentioned his efforts to invest in films.
Citing the example of Abu Salem, Puppala said that during that time, efforts were made to invest in the film industry, provide alleged protection and establish his influence in matters related to various demands.
According to Puppala, some goons claimed that they could handle matters related to investment or security in the film industry. He also tried to show his dominance through such claims and allegations.
After the attack on Tiger Shroff, the question is arising whether an atmosphere of panic is being created in Bollywood once again.
BBC Hindi also asked the same question to Chandramohan Puppala. He said, "It would not be right to say this again. We see such incidents happening at regular intervals."
Police had told that this attack was carried out by Shubham Lonkar gang. The police had also said that the purpose of the attack was to spread terror by extorting ransom.
D. Sivanandan believes that those days of terror have not returned. According to him, he had chased Dawood Ibrahim, Chhota Shakeel, Arun Gawli and other criminals. Although the leaders of these criminals worked from abroad, their followers were deeply connected to the criminal gangs of Mumbai.
"This is not the mafia we have seen in Mumbai in the last 60 years. This is something different."
Lawrence Bishnoi's name is associated with this new criminal world. Bishnoi, who hails from a village in North India, has been in jail for many years and his image has become like a villain of folklore. It is said that he is giving orders to attackers in different countries from jail itself. His name often appears in threats and claims of responsibility for attacks. Such claims are often spread online.
Lawrence Bishnoi had publicly threatened Salman Khan regarding the blackbuck hunting issue. In this 1998 case, Khan was accused of hunting chinkara. Chinkara is an animal of the deer family and is considered sacred in the Bishnoi community.
In April 2024, five bullets were fired outside Salman Khan's house in Mumbai. Six months later, politician Baba Siddiqui, considered close to Salman Khan and other film stars, was murdered.
Mumbai Police has linked both these attacks to the Bishnoi gang. However, the personal involvement of Lawrence Bishnoi in Siddiqui's murder has not yet been proven.
Some allegations related to Bishnoi gang are based on police investigation, while others are yet to be confirmed. However, the distinction between the crimes actually committed by the gang and the claims made in its name often remains blurred in the minds of the general public. This is the reason why the fear of this new gang is increasing day by day.
Reference- Dubai to Dongri- Hussain Zaidi; The Brahmastra Unleashed- D Shivanandan
