In a sound clip released on social media, two persons who claimed to be members of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, accepted the responsibility for the attack, accusing Shroff of ignoring their earlier warnings. They also threatened attacks on Salman Khan and those working with him
The firing on Bollywood actor Tiger Shroff’s car in Mumbai’s Juhu on Sunday evening is an open challenge to the authority of the state and the rule of law. Though the actor escaped the firing with minor injuries, his driver and a bystander were injured. The fact that gunmen opened fire in a public place, endangering everyone present highlights the need for a sustained campaign against organised crime and accountability for the failures that allow armed criminals to strike.
In a sound clip released on social media, two persons who claimed to be members of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, accepted the responsibility for the attack, accusing Shroff of ignoring their earlier warnings. They also threatened attacks on Salman Khan and those working with him.
A social media declaration cannot substitute for evidence. Police must establish its authenticity and identify the people who commissioned, financed and facilitated the shooting and act against them. Mumbai knows the damage organised crime can inflict on its economy, institutions and public confidence. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who also holds the home portfolio, must ensure that India’s financial capital does not become a lawless land once again.
The government’s objective must be the elimination of criminal cartels. Arresting the shooters is essential, but insufficient. Investigators must pursue recruiters, weapons suppliers, financiers, extortion collectors and those arranging transport, accommodation and reconnaissance. Every payment and communication should be traced until the chain of command is established and attached.
Another important aspect that requires attention is the motive behind attacks on film personalities and celebrities. An attack typically will have two broad motives — extortion or publicity. Established gangsters attack celebrities or business persons for extortion. The attacks on T-Series founder Gulshan Kumar and producer Rakesh Roshan fall into this category. Criminals seeking to establish themselves as gangsters carry out attacks to gain publicity. Attacks on celebrities generate publicity, which criminals can exploit to intimidate and extort money from others.
While extortion is an area that only law enforcement agencies need to deal with, the government needs a different strategy to deal with newbie or aspirational criminals, who need publicity to establish themselves as gangsters. The government needs to work with media organisations to evolve a policy or standard operating procedure which denies publicity to criminals by not identifying them. This may not end the emergence of gangsters, but it will remove an important motive behind the attacks on celebrities.
The government should also look at organised crime differently from individual crime because the unstated goal of the former is to enforce its writ, which challenges the sovereignty and authority of the state. When gangsters seek to settle disputes, they challenge the authority of courts and the rule of law. A challenge to the state amounts to sedition and insurrection, and such crimes should be treated as acts of waging war against the state and offenders must face exemplary punishment to deter criminals from joining crime networks, which operate on a franchise model.
