In a disturbing development, actor Ranveer Singh’s manager received a WhatsApp voice message packed with threats and a massive ransom demand, prompting swift action from Mumbai Police. The audio brazenly claimed ties to the Lawrence Bishnoi syndicate, yet early findings point to sophisticated evasion tactics.
The message’s use of a Virtual Private Network has thrown a wrench into location tracking, a tactic senior officers say is commonplace among fraudsters mimicking real gangs. ‘This echoes the Dawood era copycats,’ one official noted, underscoring how petty criminals leverage terror reputations for quick gains.
Ranveer’s high-security Worli apartment now boasts additional armed personnel, reflecting the gravity of the situation. Whispers of Bishnoi threats have swirled around stars like Ayush Sharma on social media, but concrete complaints are scarce beyond Rohit Shetty’s recent attack.
The society’s management committee, representing Ranveer and Deepika, sought police intervention on security matters, only to be told it’s not their purview. With Bishnoi leaders in custody, their network is fractured, potentially spawning desperate imitators like the mentioned Shubham Lonkar.
Police forgo an FIR for now, prioritizing digital forensics to pierce the VPN veil. The Rohit Shetty case, involving discarded shooter devices, signals real dangers persist, but most alerts seem like opportunistic scares. As the probe deepens, Mumbai’s film fraternity braces for more such shadows.