SRK death threat case: Raipur lawyer arrested

The Mumbai police arrested a lawyer from Chhattisgarh's capital Raipur on Tuesday over allegations of threatening to kill Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan and demanding Rs 50 lakh last week, an official said.

On November 7, a Mumbai police team visited Raipur as part of its investigation into the case and summoned the lawyer, Faizan Khan, for questioning after it emerged that the death threat call was made to a police station in the financial capital using a phone number registered in his name.

The Mumbai police on Tuesday morning informed their counterparts in the Chhattisgarh capital that they have arrested Faizan Khan from the Pandri police station area as part of their probe into the threat call to the actor, Raipur senior superintendent of police Santosh Singh told PTI.

Citing preliminary information, the SSP said the threat and extortion call was made using a phone registered in the name of Faizan Khan.

During questioning, the lawyer told the investigators he had lost his mobile phone and lodged a complaint in this connection at the Khamardih police station in Raipur on November 2, he said.

The Mumbai police must have found Faizan Khan's link with the threat call and, therefore, they have rounded him up.

They are carrying out further investigation, Singh said.

The Mumbai police will produce Faizan Khan in a Raipur court to seek his transit remand and take him to the metropolis for further questioning, he added.

The Bandra police station in Mumbai had received a call on November 5 with the person on the other side threatening to kill Shah Rukh Khan and demanding Rs 50 lakh. The actor's home is located in Bandra. Subsequently, an offence was registered against the unidentified caller.

The case was lodged by the Bandra police under Sections 308(4) (extortion involving threats of death or serious injury) and 351(3)(4) (criminal intimidation) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) against the caller, the official said.

The threat to the 59-year-old superstar follows a series of such phone calls targeting fellow actor Salman Khan, allegedly from the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.

Talking to reporters in Raipur last week, Faizan Khan had claimed his phone was stolen and termed the threat call made from his communication device a conspiracy against him.

"My phone was stolen on November 2 and I lodged a complaint. I told the Mumbai police about it. They interrogated me for about two hours," he had said.

The lawyer, however, added he had earlier complained to the Mumbai police against Shah Rukh Khan over a dialogue in his movie Anjaam (1994) referring to deer hunting.

"I hail from Rajasthan. The Bishnoi community (whose members mainly reside in Rajasthan) is my friend. It is in their religion to protect deer. So, if a Muslim says something like this about deer, it is condemnable. Therefore, I raised an objection," he had said.