Attack on actor Tiger Shroff is dark reminder of Bollywood's gangster past
Bollywood star Tiger Shroff survived a shooting attempt in Mumbai, and police have detained 10 suspects. The attack has revived memories of the underworld's grip on the film industry in the 1990s.
Bollywood actor Tiger Shroff has survived an actual shooting attempt in Mumbai, in an attack that has revived dark memories of the Indian film industry's gangster-plagued past.
On Sunday evening, Shroff went to play football in Juhu, an affluent Mumbai neighborhood, when the shooting attempt took place. Four days later, the case still dominates headlines across India, with police having detained or arrested 10 suspects and investigators tracing alleged weapon deliveries.
The attack has brought the name of Lawrence Bishnoi, one of India's most notorious gangsters, back into the headlines. A claim linking the shooting to the jailed Bishnoi's network circulated soon after the attack, but Mumbai police have not verified the claim or established that the Bishnoi gang was behind it.
The targeting of Shroff follows a series of threats and attacks involving prominent Bollywood figures. Bishnoi has publicly threatened Salman Khan over a 1998 poaching case; in April 2024, gunmen fired five rounds outside Khan's Mumbai home, and six months later politician Baba Siddique -- close to Khan and other actors -- was murdered, with Mumbai police linking both attacks to the Bishnoi gang.
During the 1990s and early 2000s, Mumbai's underworld exerted formidable influence over the film industry, financing productions and demanding protection money. Former Mumbai Crime Branch chief D Sivanandhan told the BBC this is different: "This is not the Mumbai mafia which we know in the last 60 years. This is something else."
After the shooting, police reportedly stepped up security outside the homes of other prominent Bollywood figures.
Source: BBC News — Top Stories — TrendWire reports stories in its own words; facts should be confirmed against the original source.