Bollywood actor Tiger Shroff escaped with minor injuries after three men fired at his car in Mumbai on Sunday evening, injuring his driver and a bystander.
Shroff, 36, son of veteran actor Jackie Shroff, made his debut in 2014 with Heropanti and became known for action films like Baaghi and War.
The shooting happened in the suburb of Juhu as the actor was leaving a football ground. Three men on a motorcycle approached his car and fired seven rounds before fleeing, The Times of India reported.
Shroff’s driver sustained a gunshot wound to his left hand and a male bystander to his chest. Both were taken to hospital and were reported to be stable.
Police said Shroff wasn’t hit. State deputy chief minister Eknath Shinde said after visiting the actor that he had sustained minor injuries from gunpowder and broken glass.
CCTVs captured two of the suspected shooters and police recovered a motorcycle they believed was used in the attack, The Indian Express reported.
Police said they had formed 15 teams to investigate the shooting and were examining surveillance footage to trace the movements of the attackers. They thought the attackers knew Shroff’s routine because he reportedly played football at the park every Sunday.
According to the Hindustan Times, police detained one person for questioning but didn’t provide any information about their identity or suspected role in the attack.
An audio message claiming responsibility for the attack threatened that “anyone in the film industry who works separately from us, or works with Salman Khan, we will kill him.” Khan is one of the Hindi film industry’s biggest stars.
The man delivering the message identified himself as Anil Pandit and claimed to represent an organised crime network linked to the jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi.
Police were yet to confirm whether the gang was involved in the attack.
The Lawrence Bishnoi gang has repeatedly threatened Khan for killing two blackbuck antelopes during a 1998 hunting trip in Rajasthan.
The blackbucks are a protected wildlife species revered by the Bishnois, a Hindu community founded in the 15th century whose religious principles include a duty to protect wildlife and trees.
Khan was sentenced to five years in prison in 2018 for hunting the antelopes but his sentence was suspended on appeal.
Lawrence Bishnoi has accused the actor of offending its religious beliefs and threatened to kill him.
In April 2024, two men on a motorcycle fired several rounds outside Khan’s home in Mumbai’s Bandra neighbourhood while the actor and his family were inside. Police linked the attack to the Bishnoi gang, and the gangster’s brother, Anmol, claimed responsibility in a social media post.
Six people were arrested in connection with the case, while Bishnoi was named as a wanted accused.
Six months later, former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique, a close friend of Khan, was shot dead in Mumbai.
Police confirmed the Bishnoi gang’s involvement in the killing and investigators said the gang had sought to target people close to Khan.
After visiting Shroff at his home, Shinde condemned the shooting and assured the family the state would support them and address their security concerns.
“These attempts to intimidate people will not be tolerated, and we will put an end to this hooliganism,” the deputy chief minister said. “No one will be allowed to establish their dominance through threats or violence in Mumbai.”
He added that his government would not allow the city to return to the gang warfare of the 1990s.
Mumbai’s underworld violence peaked during the 1990s, when rival gangs led by Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Rajan were tied to shootings, contract killings and extortion, with Bollywood actors, producers and other industry figures among those targeted.
Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis spoke to Mumbai police chief Deven Bharti and asked him to expedite the investigation into the attack on Shroff, according to The Hindu.
The attack shocked the industry. “Shocking, and disgusting! Hope everyone is safe, Tiger Shroff! No mercy for the perpetrators, Mumbai Police! This is outrageous!” actor Ranvir Shorey wrote on X.
