By Ayesha Khan 
New Delhi, October 3: What was meant to be another ordinary evening in South East Delhi turned into a firefight when police intercepted two men allegedly sent to kill stand-up comedian Munawar Faruqui. The gunfight, which played out on the stretch between Jaitpur and Kalindi Kunj late Thursday night, left both suspects with bullet wounds in their legs and raised alarm over just how far organised gangs are willing to go for attention.
A Shootout on the Highway
The details sound almost cinematic. Police teams had been tailing the men for days, aware that a plan was in motion. When officers finally moved in, the duo, later identified as Rahul, 29, from Panipat, and Sahil, 37, from Bhiwani, opened fire. The exchange was brief but intense, ending with the shooters injured and subdued.
By morning, photographs of seized pistols and a black motorcycle were circulating. Both men, now under guard in the hospital, are expected to face charges of attempted murder, criminal conspiracy, and arms possession.
Who Wanted Faruqui Dead
The names behind the plot are depressingly familiar. Investigators say the men were acting under instructions from Rohit Godara, who has long operated as a lieutenant for Canada-based gangster Goldy Brar. Brar’s name still echoes in Punjab from the Sidhu Moosewala killing in 2022, an act that shocked the country and exposed how deeply these networks run.
This time, the alleged target was not a singer but a comic. According to investigators, Faruqui’s old jokes about Hindu gods’ routines that had already brought him police cases, jail time, and relentless trolling were dredged up by gang members to justify the hit. Sources say reconnaissance had been carried out in Mumbai and Bengaluru, where Faruqui frequently performs.
For Delhi Police, the case was clear: this was less about religion and more about spectacle. “They want to strike people who get them publicity,” one officer said. In the underworld, killing a controversial celebrity is a shortcut to fame.
A Pattern of Violence
Brar and his associates have made a business of targeting public figures. Killing Moosewala wasn’t just about a feud; it was also about signalling power. The attempt on Faruqui, though foiled, seems to follow the same playbook: attack someone who guarantees headlines.
That strategy reveals something unsettling. These gangs are no longer just extorting businessmen or settling scores in the shadows. They are inserting themselves into cultural battles, religion, entertainment, and politics because it gets them noticed. It also makes their violence harder to predict.
Munawar’s Strange Place in All This
Few comedians in India have been as polarising as Munawar Faruqui. He rose from small-town Gujarat to fame with sharp, often provocative routines, then crashed headlong into legal trouble in 2021 when he was arrested in Indore on charges of hurting religious sentiments. He spent weeks in jail before the Supreme Court intervened.
Since then, Faruqui has slowly rebuilt his career, winning Bigg Boss OTT Season 2 and performing to packed houses across India. But with fame has come danger. Police say the arrested shooters had tailed him for weeks, tracing his travel schedule, waiting for a chance to strike.
For now, Faruqui has stayed silent, but his security is under review. Officials haven’t ruled out assigning protection if threats continue.
What the Attack Tells Us
It’s tempting to see this as just another gangland story. But the implications cut deeper. The fact that international crime syndicates are targeting comedians for old jokes shows how blurred the lines have become between crime, ideology, and celebrity culture.
It also underscores a more basic failure: despite heavy surveillance of Brar’s networks, they were able to move men across states, conduct recce in two cities, and nearly reach their target in Delhi before being stopped. That gap in enforcement should worry both the police and the public.
The Road Ahead
Rahul and Sahil will face a long legal process, but the real masterminds, Brar in Canada, Godara in hiding, and their financiers, remain out of reach. Delhi Police will likely publicise the arrests as a victory, and in some ways it is. Yet the larger problem remains unsolved: a gang with international roots, feeding off communal tension and celebrity culture, is still operating.
For Faruqui, the danger is far from over. For India’s cultural space, the message is chilling. A joke told years ago can now become the justification for a murder plot. And as long as these gangs find oxygen in publicity, they will keep looking for the next big name to pull into their violent theatre.
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- Ayesha Khanhttps://hindustanherald.in/author/ayesha/
- Ayesha Khanhttps://hindustanherald.in/author/ayesha/
- Ayesha Khanhttps://hindustanherald.in/author/ayesha/
- Ayesha Khanhttps://hindustanherald.in/author/ayesha/
