Gunmen opened fire on actor Tiger Shroff’s car in Juhu on Sunday evening, wounding his driver and an autorickshaw driver, in an attack that a social media post attributes to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. Police have not verified the claim.
The shooting took place around 7 p.m. near Pushpa Park. Shroff was returning from a soccer session, and several reports say the attackers arrived on a motorcycle and fled after firing. Police initially counted three or four rounds, while Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, who visited the family that night, said five were fired.
Injuries
The actor has sustained injuries to his arm and chest, with photographs showing bandages on his hands and chest. His driver, Umesh Chavan, suffered a gunshot wound, and both injured men were treated at Nanavati Hospital in Vile Parle. Shroff’s father, actor Jackie Shroff, confirmed that his son was safe.
Within hours, a message circulated online claiming the attack. The post names gang member Anil Pandit and a man called Harman Sandhu as the perpetrators. It also carried a warning to the wider industry. It said that people in Mumbai’s film industry who continue to work with Salman Khan could be targeted next. Police said they are examining the post’s authenticity and the alleged links between the shooters and the gang.
Investigation
Mumbai Police have formed 15 teams to trace the attackers, and the Crime Branch has taken over the case. Investigators believe the assailants had studied Shroff’s routine and, according to reports, waited about 45 minutes outside the ground before firing. Local media reported that three suspects have been detained in Kota, Rajasthan. Police have not formally confirmed those detentions.
Two film industry bodies have said gangsters are seeking to “terrorize” Bollywood.
The Bishnoi gang has been tied to earlier violence against Khan. In April 2024, two men on a motorbike fired at his Bandra residence, and police registered an attempt-to-murder case. Police named Lawrence Bishnoi and his brother Anmol “wanted accused,” alleging the two had been directing the men arrested in that case.
The blackbuck case
The gang’s grievance dates to October 1998, when Khan was shooting Hum Saath Saath Hain in Rajasthan. Members of the Bishnoi community say he was seen killing two blackbuck antelopes on a safari in the Rajasthan desert. Two Bishnoi villagers testified in court that they saw Khan and four other actors on a poaching mission, and said they heard gunshots at night and later found carcasses. Khan strongly denies killing the animals.
In 2018, a court in Jodhpur convicted Khan and sentenced him to five years in prison. He spent two nights in jail before being granted bail. The other actors named in the case were acquitted, and Khan’s appeal has continued.
The Bishnoi community
The Bishnoi, concentrated in Rajasthan, follow 29 tenets attributed to the 15th-century saint Guru Jambheshwar, many of which require the protection of trees and wildlife. Members describe themselves as ecological guardians, and their principles bar them from killing animals or even sterilising a bull. Blackbuck are held sacred. Tradition holds that in 1730, 363 Bishnois died trying to prevent the felling of trees, an episode often cited as an inspiration for the Chipko movement.
The Bishnoi Tiger Force, a community anti-poaching group, says up to nine Bishnoi have been shot dead by hunters over the past two decades.
Lawrence Bishnoi, a jailed gangster, has adopted the blackbuck dispute as a public grievance. He has openly admitted to plans to kill Khan over the 1998 incident. He has also said Khan must apologise at Nokha Dham in Bikaner or face consequences. Many members of the Bishnoi community have said he does not speak for them and that their faith is rooted in nonviolence.
