Gujarat man who threatened Salman Khan turns out to be mentally ill; issued notice

Vadodara/Mumbai, Apr 15 (PTI) A man who allegedly issued a death threat to actor Salman Khan has been traced to a village in Gujarat's Vadodara district and found to be mentally unstable, police said on Tuesday. The Mumbai police on Monday apprehended the 26-year-old man, Mayank Pandya, and issued a notice to him, asking him to appear before them whenever required, they said.

The accused, resident of a village in Waghodia taluka of Vadodara, has not been arrested, the police said. The Mumbai Traffic Police's WhatsApp helpline received a message on Sunday wherein the sender threatened to blow up Salman Khan's car with a bomb and assault the Y-Plus-protectee by entering his residence. The Worli police in Mumbai subsequently registered a case against the then unidentified person under section 351(2)(3) (criminal intimidation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and tightened security outside Khan's residence in Bandra area. Following an investigation, the Mumbai police learnt the threat message was sent by a person living in Waghodia taluka of Vadodara, district Superintendent of Police Rohan Anand told reporters. "A team of Mumbai police, accompanied by Waghodia police, reached the suspect's house at a village in Waghodia on Monday. However, it turned out that the 26-year-old man, who had sent the message, is mentally unstable and undergoing treatment," Anand said. "The Mumbai police served him a notice for appearance and left," the official added.

As per the notice, the man has to appear before the Mumbai police for investigation whenever required, another official said. In April last year, two motorbike-borne persons fired four rounds outside Khan's residence at the Galaxy Apartments in Mumbai's Bandra area.

Khan previously faced threats from the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, which warned him of consequences if he did not apologise to the Bishnoi community over the alleged killing of a blackbuck. Following these threats, the Mumbai police provided him with Y-Plus security.

Weeks after the firing incident last year, Navi Mumbai Police claimed to have uncovered a plot by the Bishnoi gang to kill Khan when he travelled to his farmhouse at Panvel near Mumbai.