Veteran Actor Mushtaq Khan Passes Away After Cancer Battle

Veteran actor Mushtaq Khan, known for his memorable supporting and comic roles in Hindi cinema, died on Thursday after a prolonged battle with cancer. Weeks before his death, Khan had spoken in detail about a terrifying chapter of his life involving his abduction in November 2024. Earlier this month, the actor recalled the ordeal on the podcast Finding A Way With Deepti, recounting how he was lured to an award function in Meerut, taken to a house in Bijnor, and held captive before escaping. Khan said he received a call from a man who claimed to have met him at an event in Noida and invited him to Meerut. After discussing his fee, Khan agreed, received half the amount in advance, and got a flight ticket to Delhi. Police investigations later established that Khan was picked up from Delhi airport after arriving from Mumbai on November 20, 2024, and taken to Bijnor. Khan said a car was ready for him when he reached Delhi. His captors covered his face, drove him for several hours, and took him to the second floor of a building where they demanded a ransom of Rs 1 crore. The abductors believed Khan had made a fortune from the box-office success of Gadar 2, which earned Rs 500 crore. The ransom demand was eventually brought down to Rs 20 lakh, with plans for his wife to arrange the money in the morning. Police records also showed the abductors forced transactions from his phone during captivity, and reports stated the same gang used a similar method to lure comedian Sunil Pal weeks later, holding both men at the same Bijnor guesthouse. Khan's opportunity to escape came after his captors began drinking. Out of seven or eight people initially present, most left, leaving two men who eventually fell asleep in the room with him. Khan heard the sound of the azaan, realizing a mosque was nearby. He gathered courage, left his suitcase behind, walked past empty lower floors, and found the main gate open. Once outside in a populated settlement, he asked a local man for directions to the mosque, reached it, and contacted his family. Police confirmed his escape to the mosque, and subsequent investigations led to the arrest of several gang members, including the alleged main accused.