Actor Mushtaq Khan dies; did you know he was once kidnapped, he escaped after hearing the morning Azaan?

Veteran actor Mushtaq Khan, who famously played a disabled hockey player in Akshay Kumar's Welcome, has passed away after battling cancer. He was 56. In a career spanning decades, the actor made every role he played memorable, often outshining the lead characters.

While he has left behind a rich legacy, did you know he was once kidnapped, and a ransom of Rs 1 crore was demanded? The ordeal happened when the actor was allegedly lured with a fake event invitation.

When Mushtaq Khan was kidnapped for 12 hours

Back in 2024, on November 20, Mushtaq was abducted after being lured to Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, for the fake award event. To make the invitation look legitimate, the organisers had paid him an advance and even sent him flight tickets from Mumbai to Delhi.

From Delhi, he was driven to Meerut and then onward to Bijnor, where the situation took a terrifying turn when he was held at gunpoint.

Sharing about how he was kidnapped, at his Jogeshwari studio in Mumbai, he said, “I was given an advance amount and sent flight tickets, so it seemed convincing. I was told to attend an awards function as chief guest. I spoke to Sunil Pal (comedian-actor) he said something similar had happened with him as well.”

The actor was invited by a man named Rahul Soni, who claimed to have met him in Noida and wanted to honour his work in cinema. The actor had asked for a fee of Rs 75,000, and Rs 25,000 was even transferred to his account as an advance, and even flight tickets were also booked for both ways.

Khan added, “I fell for it without verifying because we artists ask them the budget and the advance amount is transferred as an assurance. When two people held me at gunpoint, I knew this was serious. This happened in Meerut after they switched cars.”

At Delhi airport, the actor was picked up by a man called Manoj, who later dropped him at a Jain Shikanji stall, from where he took the second car.

After a long drive, he was joined by a new person in the car, and then two men pointed guns at him, and asked him to remain silent. Later, he covered his face and was taken to a room, and later, they demanded Rs 1 crore.

"They demanded Rs 1 crore and started discussing how to collect the money," Mushtaq shared before adding, "I knew if I stayed, I wouldn't survive."

Khan managed to escape while his kidnappers were asleep after hearing the Azaan around 5:45 am, which made him realise a mosque was nearby. After fleeing, a local family helped him from the mosque to their home, from where he began making phone calls.

“They even transferred ₹1.24 lakh from my bank account and ₹1.06 lakh from my son’s account for their expenses.”

After being helped by a family friend, he escaped. Initially, he didn't filed an FIR, but after learning that comedian Sunil Pal faced a similar incident, Khan registered an FIR in Bijnor. He submitted evidence including flight tickets, bank transactions, and CCTV footage

It was also revealed later that a gang of four members had been planning to abduct actor Shakti Kapoor, who was reportedly offered Rs 5 lakh. However, their plan didn't work out due to the advance payment issue.

Later, Uttar Pradesh Police identified two main accused named Lavi Pal and Arjun Karnwal behind both of the cases. Later, the police arrested four accused; they also recovered ₹1 lakh from their possession.