Siddhesh Kamble aka Mahakal, an alleged member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, has told investigators that Bollywood filmmaker Karan Johar was on the target list of persons whom the gang planned for extortion, a police official said on Saturday. But a senior official also said that these claims have not been verified yet.

A senior official told PTI, “With some accused, there is an element of bragging in their confessions. The motive behind bragging is to gain publicity and get bigger extortion amounts. This phenomenon is common in Punjab and other neighbouring states. They (gangsters) want their names to get associated with high-profile cases. Mahakal is a small fish. Vikram Brar told him about Karan Johar. Why would Brar tell this to Mahakal, who is just a foot soldier? Because Brar wants to increase his clout and impress youths like Mahakal.”

Mahakal was a close aide of Santosh Jadhav, a suspected shooter in singer Sidhu Moosewala murder case and was aware of the murder conspiracy, a police official said. He is in the custody of Pune rural police for an earlier case.