The Maharashtra cyber crime branch has filed a police case against Flipkart, online marketplaces and other e-commerce platforms for selling T-shirts glorifying gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, officials said on Thursday.

According to the release, the state’s cyber wing has filed a case under various Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections, including 192 (wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot), 196 (promoting enmity between different groups) and 353 (public mischief) and provisions of the Information Technology Act.

During the online vigil, the cyber security officials found that several e-commerce platforms, including Flipkart, AliExpress, and marketplaces like TeeShopper and Etsy, had been selling T-shirts that glorify gangsters like Lawrence Bishnoi and Dawood Ibrahim.

The statement said the cyber unit has filed the case not only against the platforms that hosted these listings, but also against the sellers responsible for listing these objectionable products.

An official said, “The products, which idolise criminal figures, pose a significant risk to the society by promoting a distorted image (of values) which could influence young minds negatively.”

In its release, the cyber unit said it considers this as material harmful, as it attempts to corrupt the values of the youth by using seemingly casual apparel to spread messages that glorify criminal lifestyles.

Earlier, another popular e-commerce platform Meesho faced backlash from people for selling t-shirts branded with Bishnoi.

Filmmaker and journalist Alishan Jafri, taking to X, highlighted the issue and called it an example of India’s latest online radicalisation.

“People are literally selling gangster merchandise on platforms like @Meesho_Official and Teeshopper. This is just one example of India’s latest online radicalisation,” he wrote on X.

In a series of posts, he pointed out various concerning incidence that he came accrosed. “For much of October, I was following India’s online gangster fan groups. At a time when the police and NIA are struggling to stop youths from joining gang crime, social media influencers are making quick money by promoting gang content and glorifying gangsters,” he said.

A few hours after Australia Today aired External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s press conference in Australia, Canada banned the outlet. The External Affairs Minister gave remarks on the India-Canada diplomatic standoff. 

Reacting to this, India on Thursday said it was surprised by Canada’s move to ban the outlet and emphasized that it highlighted Ottawa’s hypocrisy towards freedom of speech. Australia Today, which is an important outlet for the Indian community in the country, had aired the joint press conference of S Jaishankar and his Australian counterpart Penny Wong in Canberra.

In a weekly media briefing, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that they understand that the social media handles, pages of this particular outlet, which is an important diaspora outlet, have been blocked and are not available for viewers in Canada. He continued that this happened just an hour or a few hours after this particular handle carried the press conference of S Jaishankar with Penny Wong. He called out the incident, mentioning that they are surprised, and the matter looks strange to them.

He further underlined that these are the actions which yet again highlight the hypocrisy of Canada towards freedom of speech. He noted that the External Affairs Minister spoke about three things: Canada making allegations and a pattern had developed without any specific evidence, surveillance of Indian diplomats in Canada, which he termed as unacceptable, and  the political space which has been given in Canada to anti-India elements. 

With this one can draw conclusions, why Australia Today channel was blocked by Canada, the spokesperson said. Australia Today focuses on news and analytical pieces related to the Indian community in Australia and elsewhere across the world.

This incident follows days after devotees were attacked by pro-Khalistani at a Hindu temple in Canada’s Brampton, with S Jaishankar calling it deeply concerning. Furthermore, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also condemned the attack and said that there were cowardly attempts to intimidate Indian diplomats.

The diplomatic standoff between India and Canada began in September last year when Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alleged that Indian government agents might have been involved in the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a claim outrightly rejected by New Delhi.

Later in October 2024, ties between both the countries nosedived when Canada termed the Indian High Commissioner a person of interest in its investigation into Nijjar’s murder. Issuing a strongly worded statement, India dismissed the fresh charge and recalled the envoy and some diplomats, while expelling six Canadian officials, including Canada’s acting High Commissioner.

The Mumbai police recently received a call from a person threatening to kill Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan and demanded Rs 50 lakh from him. The phone call was received from a mobile number registered in the name of one Faizan Khan from Raipur, Chhattisgarh. Reportedly, a case was filed at the Bandra Police Station on Thursday.

The Police have interrogated a man, identified as Faizan Khan, in connection with the death threat. Nonetheless, during questioning, Khan claimed he was an advocate and his phone was stolen on November 2, reports said. He also claimed that he had filed a complaint regarding it and someone misused it to threaten Shah Rukh Khan.

Reports also stated that the caller told the police to call him Hindustani when he was questioned about his identity and location. The call was received on November 5 at around 1.20 pm.

The Bollywood actor had also received a death threat in October last year, following which his security was amplified to the Y+ level. This security ensures he is accompanied by six armed personnel around the clock. Earlier he had two security personnel, also armed, accompanying him.

The death threat to the Jawan star comes days after Salman Khan received a threat from the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, which has been targeting Salman over his alleged involvement in the killing of a black buck. The gang said that the actor should either visit a temple and apologise for allegedly killing a black buck or pay Rs 5 crore instead.

Later a man, identified as Bhikharam Jalaram Bishnoi was arrested in Karnataka for issuing the threat to Salman Khan. The Mumbai Police’s Traffic Control unit said that they received a message from a person claiming to be gangster Lawrence Bishnoi’s brother on Monday, who said Salman Khan would be killed if he didn’t do what he was told.

Salman Khan also received a similar death threat from an unknown person on October 30, who had demanded a Rs 2 crore ransom from him. His security cover was amped up following the murder of former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique on October 12. Baba Siddique was killed outside his son’s office when he was bursting firecrackers on the occasion of Dussehra.