Mumbai: The Mumbai Police Crime Branch has arrested a 30-year-old Bengaluru-based IT engineer for allegedly sending extortion threats to several actors, including Ayushmann Khurrana and Tusshar Kapoor.
According to the police, the accused allegedly sought to make quick money by exploiting the recent threats and firing incidents targeting Bollywood celebrities and attributed to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.
The arrested man has been identified as Vaibhav Mishra, who allegedly contacted Ayushmann and several other actors through Instagram.
“After the actors reported the threats, we began tracing the sender through his online profile. Using technical details, we managed to track him down and have now taken him into custody,” a police officer said. The officer added that Mishra had also sent Tusshar an audio clip threatening the actor and demanding ₹5 crore.
Confirming the arrest, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Rajtilak Roushan said Mishra would be brought to Mumbai after the police obtained transit remand from a local court in Bengaluru.
“As of now, it does not appear that the IT engineer is linked to the Bishnoi gang in any manner, but we are yet to interrogate him and ascertain that,” the officer said.
A few days after the October 18 shooting incident involving Tiger Shroff’s car in Juhu, Tusshar received an audio threat allegedly sent by Hari Chand Jat, aka Harry Boxer, a close aide of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi.
The actor alerted the police, who sent the recording for forensic analysis. However, the voice reportedly did not match Boxer’s samples in police records.
Investigators suspected that someone else may have sent the message, possibly seeking to exploit the situation created by the Bishnoi gang.
Read More: Ayushmann Khurrana Gets Extortion Threat, Sender Allegedly Claims Bishnoi Gang Links
