The key facts
- On Sunday evening in the Juhu area of Mumbai, shots were fired at actor Tiger Shroff's car; his driver and a blogger filming the actor were wounded.
- Police detained or arrested 10 suspects; the mastermind and motives of the attack have not yet been established.
- A statement circulated online on behalf of an alleged member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, but Mumbai police have not confirmed it.
The Attack in Juhu
On Sunday evening, 36-year-old actor Tiger Shroff, known for his roles in action films, was playing football in Juhu — an upscale Mumbai neighborhood where film stars live. As he was leaving the field in his BMW, gunshots rang out. His driver was wounded, as well as a blogger who had come to film the actor. Shroff himself was unharmed. For four days now, the case has remained the main topic of Indian media, generating new theories and lists of alleged conspiracies.
The Investigation and the Gang's Statements
Police have detained or arrested 10 suspects. Investigators are tracking, according to their data, weapons supplies across several states and are examining payments to the alleged attackers. Shortly after the attack, a screenshot of a post spread online, allegedly on behalf of an associate of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang claiming responsibility; an audio recording also appeared in which a man calling himself Anil Pandit repeated the claim and said Shroff had been targeted because of alleged ties to Salman Khan, whom Bishnoi has threatened for years. Mumbai police have not confirmed these statements and have not established the gang's involvement; the mastermind and motives of the attack remain to be determined.
A Series of Attacks on Bollywood
The assassination attempt continues a series of threats and attacks on prominent film figures: in April 2024, gunmen fired five shots outside Salman Khan's home in Mumbai, and earlier this year there was a shooting outside the home of director Rohit Shetty. Six months after the attack on Khan's home, in 2024, politician Baba Siddique, close to Khan and other actors, was killed; police linked both attacks to the Bishnoi gang but did not establish Bishnoi's personal involvement in Siddique's murder. After the latest incident, police reportedly increased security at the homes of Khan and Shetty. The All Indian Cine Workers Association demanded greater protection, saying: 'Today it is Tiger Shroff. Who is next?'
The Shadow of the 1990s
The incident recalled the 1990s and early 2000s, when Mumbai's criminal world financed film production, extorted 'protection' money, and used violence. In 1997, music magnate Gulshan Kumar was shot dead outside a temple in Mumbai, and three years later director Rakesh Roshan survived an assassination attempt. D. Sivanandhan, who headed Mumbai's crime branch in 1998, investigated the financing of the film 'Chori Chori Chupke Chupke' starring Salman Khan: the producer and his assistant each received six years in prison under Maharashtra's organized crime law for ties to criminals, the financier got one year for concealing information, and the film's negatives were seized, with the release taking place under judicial supervision. According to Sivanandhan, some filmmakers themselves sought money from gangsters, which made police work difficult.
'This Is Not That Mafia'
Sivanandhan is not inclined to see in the recent events a return of the mafia he fought — the networks of Dawood Ibrahim, Chhota Shakeel, Arun Gawli and others. 'This is not the Mumbai mafia we have known for the last 60 years,' he said. 'It is something different.' Former Mumbai police commissioner Rakesh Maria called Bishnoi an example of a new generation of gangsters, more tech-savvy and international: 'The old underworld was visible and territorial, the new one is dispersed and fluid. They no longer need to live in the city to command it,' he told The Print. Bishnoi, in prison since 2015, has publicly threatened Khan over the 1998 case of poaching blackbucks, animals revered by the Bishnoi community.
Fear in the Age of Social Media
Film scholar Ashwin Immanuel Devasundaram told the BBC that in the 1990s Bollywood itself mythologized the criminal world — for example, the role of Bhiku Mhatre in the film 'Satya' (1998) became, in his words, 'mythologized and talismanic' — but today gangsters build their own image through social media, spreading threats and staged photos. There is still no direct evidence that criminal networks have regained control over the industry's finances and decisions, but the attack revealed a different vulnerability: a single shot, spread across millions of screens, sows fear far beyond the intended target. 'There is always a gap in the armor,' Sivanandhan concluded.
Image source, AFP via Getty Images Actor Tiger Shroff, who made his debut in 2014, is known for his action roles
Image source, Reuters Gangster Lawrence Bishnoi has been locked up in prison since 2015
Image source, Getty Images Bishnoi's gang claimed responsibility for killing Baba Siddiqui (right) in 2024, citing his ties to Salman Khan (left)
