In brief
On a Sunday evening in Mumbai as Tiger Shroff left a football match, gunfire erupted, wounding his driver and a vlogger. The gunmen’s identity remains unclear, yet a gang linked to Bollywood star Salman Khan has been named. The attack, the latest in a string of violent incidents, has rekindled fears of organised crime in the film industry’s glittering corridors. Police have detained ten suspects and are probing links to notorious gangster Lawrence Bishnoi. While the old Mumbai underworld has faded, new, technology‑savvy networks appear poised to threaten the industry again.
On a Sunday evening in Mumbai, actor Tiger Shroff was leaving a late‑night football match in the affluent Juhu neighbourhood when a burst of gunfire rattled the air. The shooter struck his BMW’s driver and a visiting video‑journalist, but Shroff himself escaped unharmed.
Investigators have arrested ten suspects and are following a trail of weapon deliveries that cross state borders. While no concrete evidence yet ties the attack to the high‑profile gang led by Lawrence Bishnoi, police have cited an audio clip that claims responsibility and points to a revenge motive linked to the star Salman Khan.
The incident comes on the heels of other shots fired at Bollywood personalities, including a gunman’s foray outside Khan’s home in 2024 and a shootout at filmmaker Rohit Shetty’s residence earlier this year. Those events have reignited memories of Mumbai’s 1990s underworld, when organised crime financed films, extorted protection money and sometimes used violence to enforce its will.
Lawrence Bishnoi, a long‑time prisoner associated with a crime syndicate, has become a name invoked almost as a brand of threat. Though a jail‑break in 2024 saw gunmen strike Khan’s house, the gang has so far avoided direct charges on Bishnoi himself, but his reputation continues to influence public perception.
Experts argue that the modern version of Mumbai’s underworld is less territorial and more fluid, operating through digital channels and remote coordination. Unlike the past, today gangsters can broadcast threats, post claims of responsibility and fabricate images that spread across millions of phones without ever setting foot in a studio or law‑enforcement office.
The new attacks highlight a vulnerability that extends beyond finances: a single, high‑profile shooting can blanket the whole industry in terror. While the old mafia’s grip on production and distribution may have weakened, the emergence of tech‑savvy, dispersed criminal networks means that Bollywood’s star‑laden streets are once again a focal point for organised crime’s aspirations.
