Mumbai: In a nine-hour long operation and after chasing for around 10kms, the city crime branch on Tuesday morning detained the person who had made a call to the police control room threatening to eliminate actor Salman Khan. The caller turned out to be a 16-year-old boy, a class IX dropout from Rajasthan.

The actor is currently busy promoting his upcoming film ‘Kisi Ka Bhai, Kisi Ki Jaan’ scheduled to release during Eid this month. Salman has been provided Y+ category security by the Mumbai police.

At around 9:14 pm on Monday, the city police control room received a call where the caller said he would eliminate Salman on April 30, and asked the cop who received the phone to inform the actor about it. The person then disconnected the call.

When the control room personnel dialled the caller’s number and asked his name and details, he said he was Rocky Bhai, a Gau Rakshak (cow vigilante) from Jodhpur in Rajasthan. The threat call came weeks after the actor’s office received an email threatening to eliminate the actor.

Soon after receiving the call, the city crime branch formed three teams under the supervision of joint CP Lakhmi Gautam and DCP Prashant Kadam. “By 11:30 pm on Monday, the crime branch got the mobile phone deatils. The phone was switched off and its location was shown near Padgha, taluka Shahpur, in Thane district. While an eight-member team was sent to the location, a second team was busy collecting technical intelligence, and the third team was in support,” said a police source.

At 1:30am, the phone was switched on and again switched off. Cops kept roaming in the locality the whole night.

At 7:30am on Tuesday, cops were waiting at the corner of a lane when they saw two youths leaving on a bike. Cops suspected something and planned to chase them. Meanwhile, they got a call from the support team that the wanted mobile phone had just been switched on. Cops saw the pillion rider who was looking at the phone and suspected he could be the one.

When the cops, dressed in civvies, asked them to stop, they sped away. “Police team chased the two for nearly 10 kms and finally stopped them. We found the 100 number in the minor’s phone. They were brought to Mumbai,” said an officer.

The minor boy admitted to have made the call. “He came from Rajasthan around 10 days ago and was staying with his cousin at Padgha. His cousin is into imitation jewellery and has a small unit at Dolkhamb. The duo were going from Padgah to Dolkhamb when we stopped them. The boy said he didn’t know much about the actor. He said he wanted to see Mumbai and learnt imitation jewellery work,” said police.

The police placed the minor before the child welfare committee as per Juvenile Justice Act guidelines. The CWC ordered to keep the minor at the David Sassoon Industrial School and Children’s Home. He is likely to be handed over to his parents.