The Mumbai police have provided security to Bollywood actor Boman Irani after he allegedly received threat calls from gangster Ravi Pujari.
Pujari, who is interested in the overseas rights of an upcoming movie starring Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan and actor Boman Irani, made the calls to the actors earlier this month, according to the police.
He also allegedly threatened producer-brothers Ali and Karim Morani, believing that they were the producers of the movie. He even reportedly ordered firing outside Mr. Ali Morani’s residence. On August 23, three unidentified men fired five live rounds outside Mr. Ali Morani’s suburban residence. Security has been extended to him.
On August 25, Pujari called the office of Red Chilli Entertainments, a production company headed by Shah Rukh Khan and his wife Gauri Khan.
The phone was answered by a staff member. The gangster allegedly warned the actor against working with the Morani brothers.
Mr. Karim Morani, an accused in the 2G scam, is considered close to the actor.
Other than Mr. Irani, the gangster has also threatened two businessmen in the recent past.
The police —baffled by the sudden increase in the activities of the small-time gangster — have now started picking up his men. They are also planning to provide security to everyone who had in the recent past received threat calls from him.
“All the calls have been made using Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP), so it is difficult to trace their origin. But we suspect he is holed up in Australia and is operating from there,” a senior police officer told The Hindu .
