Once upon a time in Mumbai, now Punjabi stars targeted by gangs

Jupinderjit Singh & Jasmine Singh

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Tribune news service

Chandigarh, June 2

In a throwback to the underworld’s almost unchecked run-in with Bollywood in the 1990s, it is the Punjabi entertainment industry that is facing the music now — leaving it shocked and shaken.  

  The extortion call of Rs 10 lakh made to popular singer-actor Gippy Grewal by gangster Dilpreet Dahan on Friday makes him the fifth Punjabi artiste to have been targeted in the recent past.

  While singer Parmish Verma, who was shot at in Mohali in April, and Gippy have come out in the open, three others have revealed to The Tribune that they too had been threatened.

Goldy, a music director from Desi Crew and also a close friend of Parmish, received a threat call a few days back. “Hun teri waari hai (It’s your turn now),” the caller threatened. Noted lyricist Bunty Bains and  singer Jenny Johal have faced similar situations.

Bunty revealed how he desperately tried to reach the police over the phone while he was being chased by four unidentified men in February this year, some two weeks before Parmish received the first extortion call. “A car without a number plate followed me from my office in Mohali till the Zirakpur-Patiala road. As it neared, I saw four people with their faces covered inside. I tried to reach out to the police but they did not take the incident seriously.” A few days later, someone damaged his Audi car parked outside his home. “The police have done nothing about it.” 

Bunty doesn’t connect the two incidents, but doesn’t deny its possibility either.  

Playback singer Jenny Johal said she was threatened with dire consequences if she did not wear traditional Punjabi attire and kept her head covered with a dupatta while performing.

While the Pollywood industry is reeling under a possible mafia threat, Punjab Police claim to have the matter under control. DGP Suresh Arora said they were concerned about the few recent cases. In Amritsar on Saturday, he assured full protection. “We have already put many gangsters behind bars and stand fully committed to protect all sections of society,” he said.

Police Intelligence officials feel the singers are being looked at as easy targets. Since these artistes come under the ‘nouveau riche’ bracket, they seem to attract unwanted attention. Their overexposure on social media also makes them a soft target.

Officials with the Organised Crime Control Unit, Mohali, have advised artistes not to share their location on social media, or put real-time photos. 

“We have information about Gurjant Singh, a YouTuber from Australia, who has been threatening artistes asking them to stick to Punjabi culture and roots. He would probably be sent back to India soon,” a police official said.

Meanwhile, the recent incident involving Gippy Grewal has left the industry in a daze, with the artistes demanding immediate police action. Says an industry insider, “If the police don’t take any concrete steps, we would eventually have to pay protection money. After all, we cannot sit in our homes and do films and songs; we have to mingle with fans, tomorrow who knows where the bullet comes from?”

DSP Gurjot Kler, with the Organised Crime Control Unit, stressed that it was imperative that no extortion money was paid to the gangsters and “whichever artiste receives such threatening calls or messages, should immediately report it to the police”.

In Bollywood...

• Underworld activity was at its peak in the 1990s in Bollywood. Actors, financiers, producers were forced to make visits to Dubai to entertain Dawood Ibrahim and his family
• The underworld then moved to making claims for roles in films. Dawood’s brother Noora, it was claimed, fell for Bollywood actress Mandakini. Actresses like Monica Bedi, who married gangster Abu Salem, allegedly used underworld connections to get films
• In 1997, T-Series owner Gulshan Kumar was shot dead in broad daylight
• Rajasthan gangster Lawrence Bishnoi threatened to kill Salman Khan in Jodhpur where the actor had gone for the hearing of blackbuck poaching case
• The mafia or gang culture in Bollywood first came to notice in the 1970s, when gangsters Karim Lala and Haji Mastan were seen socialising with some actors

What they said...

Police need to handle the situation urgently and with utmost care. There shouldn’t be any laxity in taking immediate action. — Gippy Grewal

I am in no position to talk about other artistes, but I can say the industry is under target, some action needs to be taken at once. — Bunty Bains