Mumbai Police nabs man who threatened Salman Khan and demanded Rs 5 crore; had used another person's phone, say cops

The accused is suspected to have sent the extortion messages to the Mumbai Traffic Helpline using someone else's number, an official said

The Mumbai Crime Branch has arrested a man accused of issuing threats and demanding Rs 5 crore from Bollywood actor Salman Khan, an official said on Tuesday.

The threatening message reportedly came from a phone number registered under the name of one claiming to be Sohail Pasha, who identified himself as the writer of the 'Main Sikandar Hoon' song.

The incident came to light after a series of messages were sent to the Mumbai Traffic Control Room’s helpline from a WhatsApp number, allegedly threatening the actor’s life.

According to the police, on November 7, a series of threatening WhatsApp messages were sent to the Worli Traffic Control Room helpline from a number registered to Sohail Pasha, identified as the writer of the song Main Sikandar Hoon. The messages allegedly demanded a ransom of Rs 5 crore from Salman Khan, with threats to kill the actor if the money was not paid.

Upon receiving the complaint from an officer with the transport branch, Worli Police registered a case under sections including 308 (4) and 351 (3).

During investigations, the police traced the WhatsApp messages to a phone number registered under the name Banktesh Narayan, who was traced in Karnataka, said an official.

However, investigation revealed that Narayan did not have a smartphone and was using an old phone, which lacked both internet connectivity and the WhatsApp application, the police said.

Further inspection of his device revealed that an OTP message for WhatsApp installation was received on November 3, 2024.

Narayan explained to authorities that on that date, while he was at a local market, an unknown individual approached him requesting his mobile phone to make a call and acting on goodwill, Narayan allowed the individual to use his phone, who then allegedly proceeded to install WhatsApp using Narayan’s number on a different device.

As investigations continued, authorities identified Sohail Pasha, alias Sohail Paksha, as the primary suspect. Pasha, who allegedly wrote Main Sikandar Hoon, is believed to have sent the extortion messages to the Mumbai Traffic Helpline under Narayan’s phone number, said an officer.

"Police tracked Pasha and handed him over to Worli police for further investigation," the official said.

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