What Are the Legal Implications of Making Threat Calls to Celebrities in India?

The Mumbai police Tuesday arrested a lawyer from Raipur in Chhattisgarh for allegedly threatening to kill Shah Rukh Khan and demanding Rs 50 lakh from the Bollywood superstar last week.

"What Are the Legal Ramifications of Making Threat Calls to Celebrities?"

A senior Raipur police officer confirmed the arrest of Faizan Khan, 42, and said he would be produced before a local court in the city by the Mumbai police seeking his transit remand. Faizan was summoned by the Mumbai police in connection with the threat call to Shah Rukh Khan last Tuesday, but he failed to appear before them.

The Mumbai and Raipur police have not specified the accused's motive behind making the threat call to kill Shah Rukh Khan.

Earlier, Faizan Khan claimed that his phone was stolen and someone else made the call to the Mumbai police and gave threats to frame him.

Last Tuesday, the Bandra police station in Mumbai received the threat call from a person who identified himself as 'Hindustani' and told the police that he was standing outside Mannat, Shah Rukh’s home in Bandra, and if he is not paid Rs 50 lakh he could kill the Jawan actor.

The Mumbai police later found that the call came from a mobile number registered in the name of Faizan Khan from Raipur. After the police located Faizan, he told them that his mobile phone was stolen on November 2, the actor's birthday. The lawyer also filed a complaint with the local police saying his phone had been stolen.

The Mumbai police then served him a notice asking him to come to Mumbai and join the investigation. But he didn't turn up, said an officer.

A police officer said Faizan was booked in a criminal case earlier this year in connection with a petty offence. Faizan had earlier complained to the Mumbai police against Shah Rukh Khan over a dialogue in his movie Anjaam (1994) referring to deer hunting.

The police registered a First Information Report (FIR) under sections 308(4) and 351 (3)(4), related to extortion and criminal intimidation, of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). They also stepped up security cover outside Shah Rukh Khan’s home after the threat call.