Salman Khan, Lawrence Bishnoi and the bollywood threat: How a 1998 case became a wider feud

The firing incident involving actor Tiger Shroff in Mumbai on 18 October 2026 raises a concerning question: has the long-standing feud between Salman Khan and Lawrence Bishnoi extended to other Bollywood celebrities?

Mumbai Police are investigating the shooting and its alleged links to the Bishnoi gang. According to police sources, Khan may have been the original target before the alleged attackers turned their attention to Shroff. Investigators have also stated that the suspects conducted reconnaissance at the homes of other prominent actors, but the purpose of all the visits and the extent of the alleged targeting remain subjects of investigation.

The case has reinvigorated a feud that has existed for almost three decades. But how did it begin, how many times has Khan been threatened, and why have other celebrities become part of the picture?

1998: The case behind the feud

The roots of the conflict lie in October 1998, when Salman Khan was filming Hum Saath-Saath Hain in Rajasthan.

Khan was accused of hunting blackbucks near Jodhpur. The case also involved other actors from the film's cast. Blackbucks hold particular religious significance for the Bishnoi community, which has an established tradition of wildlife protection.

In April 2018, a Jodhpur court convicted Khan in a blackbuck poaching case and sentenced him to five years in prison. He was granted bail shortly afterwards. The other actors accused in that case were acquitted.

Lawrence Bishnoi subsequently used the case as his justification for threatening Khan. In 2018, while being taken to court in Jodhpur, he publicly threatened to kill the actor. Investigators later linked an associate, Sampat Nehra, to reconnaissance at Khan's Mumbai residence that year.

The distinction is important: the wildlife case was a legal proceeding, while Bishnoi's threats became a separate criminal matter. His public grievance does not explain the motives behind every subsequent attack attributed to his network.

From threatening messages to gunfire

The threats continued over the years.

In June 2022, a threatening letter was discovered near Bandra Bandstand, where Khan's father, Salim Khan, often went for morning walks. The message threatened the father and son and referred to Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala, who had been murdered the previous month.

In March 2023, a member of Khan's team received an email containing threats against the actor. The message referred to Bishnoi's remarks and demanded that Khan communicate with gangster Goldy Brar, who investigators have identified as an associate of Bishnoi.

The situation escalated on 14 April 2024, when motorcycle-borne assailants opened fire outside Khan's Galaxy Apartments residence in Mumbai. Khan was not injured. Police investigated the incident as an alleged attempt to kill him and arrested several suspects in connection with the case.

Khan subsequently told investigators that he believed Bishnoi and his associates were behind the attack and intended to kill him and his family. This was the actor's stated belief based on the investigation; it should not be confused with a final judicial determination of every accused person's role.

How many times has Salman Khan been threatened?

There is no singular public count of every threat, threatening message, alleged surveillance operation and attempted attack against Khan.

The major documented developments include Bishnoi's public threat in 2018, the threatening letter in 2022, the email in 2023, an alleged assassination plot involving Khan's Panvel farmhouse and the shooting outside his residence in April 2024. Further threats and alleged plots have been reported since then.

These incidents should not be treated as though they are all independently proven assassination attempts. They differ in nature and may be linked to the same alleged conspiracy.

The wider investigation has attracted international attention. In July 2026, The Indian Express reported that a United States Department of Justice indictment described Bishnoi's alleged declarations of an intention to murder a prominent Indian actor identified by the initials S.K. between 2022 and 2026. The indictment reportedly described the threats as a means of promoting the criminal enterprise and instilling fear. These are allegations in a legal document, not proof of every suspected act.

Why are other celebrities being threatened?

Khan is not the only prominent figure to have faced threats or attacks attributed to the Bishnoi network.

Punjabi singer Gippy Grewal was the victim of a shooting incident at his residence in Canada in November 2023. In February 2025, shots were fired outside filmmaker Rohit Shetty's residence in Mumbai. Comedian Kapil Sharma's café in Canada was also the target of shooting incidents in 2025. On 17 June 2026, shots were fired outside singer AP Dhillon's residence in Vancouver, and a message attributed to the gang claimed responsibility. The alleged connections and motives vary between cases and must be considered individually.

Former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique was murdered in October 2024. A social media message attributed to the Bishnoi gang claimed responsibility and referred to his association with Khan. The murder raised concerns about threats directed at people perceived to be close to the actor.

These cases do not imply that every celebrity who receives a threat is being targeted solely because of Khan. However, references to his professional and personal associations in some alleged gang messages have raised questions about whether intimidation is extending beyond the actor himself.

Tiger Shroff: Was Salman Khan the original target?

The shooting in Mumbai's Juhu area on 18 October has raised that question.

Three motorcycle-borne assailants allegedly opened fire at Shroff's car as he was leaving a football ground. Shroff escaped unharmed, while his driver and a bystander sustained gunshot injuries, according to contemporaneous reporting. His team warned against videos and statements falsely attributed to the actor.

A social media message attributed to individuals claiming links to the Bishnoi gang claimed responsibility for the attack and reportedly threatened people who continued to work with Khan. Such a claim does not establish who ordered the shooting or whether the message actually originated from the gang.

On 21 October, The Hindustan Times reported that Mumbai Police sources believed Khan may have been the original target. According to those sources, the alleged attackers conducted reconnaissance near his Bandra residence but were deterred by the security measures. They allegedly turned their attention to Shroff after learning about his regular football routine through social media.

On 22 October, further reporting indicated that the suspects had also conducted reconnaissance at the residences of Aamir Khan and Ranbir Kapoor. The reasons for the visits and whether the suspects had received instructions to target specific actors were being investigated.

The distinction is important: police sources have identified Khan as a possible original target, but the investigation must establish the instructions that the suspects received and the chain of responsibility. A visit to a celebrity's residence does not necessarily indicate that they were chosen for an attack.

What has the investigation established?

The investigation had led to ten arrests by 22 October, according to reports published that day. On 23 October, The Indian Express reported that three additional suspects had been produced before a Mumbai court and remanded to police custody until 28 October. The three were accused of involvement in the alleged conspiracy and links to a wanted suspect.

Police have been investigating the alleged roles of the shooters, mediators and people suspected of arranging weapons. However, arrests and custody orders do not establish guilt. The investigation is ongoing, and the precise chain of command behind the shooting must be established through evidence.

The reported threat against people who work with Khan raises another concern: whether the alleged intimidation is designed to influence professional associations across the film industry. That possibility should be investigated, but it should not be presented as the proven motive behind every incident.

Beyond a personal feud

The Salman Khan–Lawrence Bishnoi conflict has escalated from a grievance publicly associated with the 1998 blackbuck case to a series of threats, alleged criminal plots and attacks that have affected people across the entertainment industry.

The alleged investigation of the Tiger Shroff shooting raises another issue: whether a threat against a heavily protected celebrity can extend to other people who may be easier to reach.

For now, investigators must establish whether Khan was the original target, who ordered the attack and what role the alleged gang played. The gang's public claims, police allegations and facts established in court must remain separate.

The bigger issue is no longer simply why Bishnoi has repeatedly threatened Khan. It is whether a feud centred on one superstar has turned into a wider campaign of intimidation—and whether investigators can establish responsibility for the latest attack before further threats turn into violence.