Mumbai: The Mumbai Police Crime Branch on Wednesday, November 4, arrested a 30-year-old IT engineer from Bengaluru, identified as Vaibhav Mishra, in connection with alleged extortion threats sent to Bollywood actors including Ayushmann Khurrana and Tusshar Kapoor, Zoom TV reported. Police allege that Mishra posed as a member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang to intimidate the actors into paying large sums of money.

Source: Zoom TV

According to the police, the accused sent messages to Ayushmann Khurrana and several other actors on Instagram, and an audio clip threatening Tusshar Kapoor and demanding Rs 5 crore. The clip claimed to be from Hari Chand Jat, also known as Harry Boxer, a close aide of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi. After the actors reported the threats, investigators traced the sender through his online profile and technical details and took him into custody in Bengaluru, Andhra Vilas reported.

Source: Andhra Vilas

Police said the audio clip was sent for forensic comparison and the voice did not match Harry Boxer's voice samples available in police records, leading investigators to conclude it appeared to be the work of someone impersonating the gang member to take advantage of the situation. Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Rajtilak Roushan confirmed the arrest and said Mishra would be brought to Mumbai after a transit remand is obtained from a local court in Bengaluru.

Roushan said: "As of now, it does not appear that the IT engineer is linked to the Bishnoi gang in any manner, but we are yet to interrogate him and ascertain that." Police said the accused allegedly thought of making quick money by taking advantage of recent threats and firing incidents attributed to the Bishnoi gang against film personalities, including the October 18 firing incident involving actor Tiger Shroff's car in Juhu, after which Tusshar Kapoor received the threatening clip.

The allegations against Mishra have not been tested in court. He is expected to be produced in Mumbai after the transit remand, and police say his interrogation will establish whether he acted alone, how he obtained the actors' contact details, and whether the messages sent to different actors are connected.