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Mumbai police arrested Faizan Khan, a lawyer from Chhattisgarh, on Tuesday for allegedly issuing a death threat and demanding INR 5 million from Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan, Indian media reported.

Faizan, who lives in Raipur, was detained from his home after a threatening phone call aimed at the actor was traced to his phone. The call was made to a police station in Mumbai’s Bandra, prompting authorities to register an extortion case under sections 308(4) (extortion involving threats of death or serious injury) and 351(3)(4) (criminal intimidation) of India’s criminal code.

However, when police personnel approached Faizan, he claimed that he lost his phone on November 2 and had already filed a complaint about it. According to the Free Press Journal, Faizan alleged that the call made from his number might have been part of a conspiracy to frame him.

Faizan had previously expressed his willingness to visit the police station in Bandra on November 14 to record his statement. However, due to the numerous threats he claimed to have received, he requested that his statement be taken virtually for safety reasons. Faizan also wrote to the Mumbai Police Commissioner about his concerns.

He claimed that he had recently filed a case against Shah Rukh at the Bandra police station, accusing the actor of causing enmity between religious groups, further alleging that this could be the reason he was being framed for the threat call.

Faizan maintained that Shah Rukh’s 1993 film Anjaam depicted the killing and consumption of a deer, an act he found offensive due to its religious and cultural significance for Rajasthan’s Bishnoi community.

“I hail from Rajasthan. The Bishnoi community 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,” India Today quoted Faizan.

He suggested that his public criticism of the actor, including a YouTube video where he linked Shah Rukh to alleged terror activities, might have caused the current situation.

Earlier this year, two members of a notorious criminal gang were arrested by Indian police on Tuesday for firing at the home of Bollywood actor Salman Khan in retaliation for the superstar’s killing of two antelopes.

The Bishnoi gang, accused of several murders and extortion rackets, hails from a wider desert-based religious sect that considers the species to be the reincarnation of their guru.

Salman, 58, has been in the crosshairs of the group since 1998 for shooting two blackbucks on a recreational hunting trip. The gang’s jailed leader Lawrence Bishnoi has threatened the actor with assassination in the past.

The gang leader has also been accused of orchestrating several murders, including the killing of popular Indian rapper Sidhu Moose Wala in 2022.