MUMBAI: A day after the Mumbai police crime branch arrested a tattoo artist from Noida for sending threat messages to Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Zeeshan Siddique and Bollywood star Salman Khan, Worli police on Wednesday arrested 56-year-old Bandra resident Azam Mohammad Mustafa for sending yet another threat message to Siddique and Khan, seeking a ransom of ₹2 crore. Mustafa, currently jobless, got the idea to send the message after watching the news on television, said police.
Mustafa was nabbed from his residence in Blue Flame Apartment on SV Road within a day of his sending the message to the Mumbai traffic police helpline number, which he obtained through an online search, said police.
“On Tuesday, we received a message from an unknown number wherein the sender demanded ₹2 crore as extortion money from Salman Khan and Zeeshan Siddique. He even threatened them with death if they failed to meet his demand,” said a police officer.
“We suspected that the message was a hoax but began efforts to trace the sender through technical details. We arrested him from his home within a day,” the police officer added. “He used to work in Saudi Arabia but does not do anything now. His son works in a private firm.”
On Tuesday, after the message was received by the Mumbai traffic police helpline, the Worli police, under whose jurisdiction the traffic headquarters fall, was alerted about the same. Subsequently, a first information report was registered under sections 353(2) (statements conducing to public mischief) and 308 (4) (extortion) of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
Read more: Noida tattoo artist arrested for sending threat messages to Zeeshan Siddique
Mustafa was arrested in connection with this case and produced in court on Wednesday. He was sent to police remand for a day.
Earlier this week, Worli police had arrested Jamshedpur resident Shaikh Hussain Shaikh who had allegedly sent a threatening message meant for the actor on the traffic police helpline.
“Don’t take it lightly; if Salman Khan wants to stay alive and end the enmity with Lawrence Bishnoi, he will have to pay ₹5 crore. If the money is not given, Salman Khan’s condition will be worse than Baba Siddique,” the Jamshedpur resident had said in the message. He tendered an apology for sending the message when a police team reached his home.
Salman Khan had earlier received death threats from the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. Suspected members of the gang had opened fire outside the actor’s Bandra home in April this year and a group of around 15 people also conducted recce of his farmhouse in Panvel and the routes taken by him to and from the farmhouse to his Bandra residence.