Mumbai police have launched a thorough investigation after Bollywood star Ranveer Singh received a chilling voice note demanding crores in ransom. The menacing message, sent via WhatsApp to his manager, invoked the notorious Lawrence Bishnoi gang, but authorities remain skeptical about its authenticity.
Sources reveal the voice note was routed through a VPN, complicating efforts to trace the sender’s location. A senior police officer highlighted how such threats often exploit privacy tools like Proton Mail or VPNs, making verification a nightmare. Drawing parallels to the 1990s, when copycat criminals masqueraded as Dawood Ibrahim’s henchmen, the officer suggested this could be a low-level opportunist riding on Bishnoi’s infamous name.
Security has been ramped up at Ranveer Singh’s plush Worli residence, ‘Beau Monde,’ with six armed guards now on duty. This comes amid heightened buzz in Bollywood about Bishnoi-linked threats, though no other major celebrities except Rohit Shetty have filed formal complaints recently.
Ranveer and wife Deepika Padukone’s housing society had earlier written to police questioning extra guard deployments, but officials dismissed it as an internal matter. The Rohit Shetty shooting incident remains a grave concern, with police hunting the perpetrators aggressively. Meanwhile, post-arrests of Lawrence and Anmol Bishnoi, the gang’s operations appear weakened.
Investigators suspect figures like Shubham Lonkar and Arju Bishnoi might be loose ends fueling these hoaxes. With no FIR likely due to unverified authenticity, technical teams are working overtime to unmask the culprit. Bollywood remains on edge as copycat threats proliferate.