Film maker Ram Gopal Varma.
Credit: PTI File Photo
Film director, screenwriter and producer Ram Gopal Varma spoke about former minister Baba Siddique's killing on Monday, after the Lawrence Bishnoi gang claimed responsibility for the sensational murder which has shaken Maharashtra's political class.
The Bishnoi gang has not only claimed responsibility for the murder of Baba Siddique but also threatened anyone who helps actor Salman Khan, according to reports.
The filmmaker made tweets suggesting a situation if someone comes up with a Bollywood movie on the incident.
In a post on X, Varma said, "A lawyer turned gangster wants to take revenge for a deer's death by killing a superstar and as a warning, orders some of his gang of 700, which he recruited through Facebook to first kill a big politician who is a close friend of the star ... The police can’t catch him because he is under the protection of the government in a jail and his spokesman speaks from abroad."
"If a Bollywood writer comes up with a story like this, they will thrash him for writing the most unbelievable and ridiculous story ever," Varma's X post read further.
"LAWRENCE BISHNOI was just a 5 YEAR OLD KID when the deer was killed in 1998 and Bishnoi maintained his grudge for 25 years and now at age 30 he says that his LIFE’S GOAL is to kill SALMAN to take REVENGE for KILLING that DEER .. Is this ANIMAL love at its PEAK or GOD playing a WEIRD JOKE ? (sic)," he added.
Notably, some Bishnoi gang members had been held in connection with the firing outside Bollywood superstar Salman Khan's residence in Mumbai in April this year.
Siddique (66) was shot outside the office of his son Zeeshan Siddique, near the Colgate Ground in Nirmal Nagar near Khetwadi in Bandra East.
He was rushed to the Lilavati Hospital, where he was pronounced dead on admission.
Two of the shooters - Gurmail Singh (23) from Haryana and Dharamraj Kashyap from Uttar Pradesh were arrested.
The third shooter Shiv Kumar Gautam managed to escape from the spot, however, efforts are on to track him down.
Police teams are looking for Mohammad Zeeshan Akhtar, the fourth accused, who is suspected to be the handler and is on a run.
A post on Facebook by one Shibu Lonkar, believed to be Bishnoi gang associate Shubham Rameshwar Lonkar, claimed that Siddique had been killed because "he was linked" to India's most wanted terrorist Dawood Ibrahim, and was also close to Salman Khan.
"We do not have any enmity with anyone but whoever helps Salman Khan and the Dawood gang, keep your accounts in order," Lonkar wrote in Hindi on Facebook.
(With DHNS inputs)