Gulshan Kumar, the founder of T-Series, was murdered on August 12, 1997, in Mumbai. He was shot 16 times by three gangsters sent by underworld don Dawood Ibrahim. The motive behind the murder was a dispute between Gulshan Kumar and music director Nadeem Saifi, who had been promoted by T-Series but was later dropped due to poor sales of his albums.
Nadeem Saifi had teamed up with Dawood Ibrahim's brother Anees Ibrahim and his right-hand man Abu Salem to plan the murder. Abu Salem had been monitoring Gulshan Kumar's movements and found an opportunity to strike when he was visiting a temple.
The three shooters, Abdul Rauf, Abdul Rashid, and Anil Sharma, were waiting for Gulshan Kumar outside the temple and attacked him as he was getting into his car. Despite being badly injured, Gulshan Kumar tried to escape but was shot again and eventually died.
The murder was widely condemned, and the police launched an investigation. Abdul Rauf was arrested in 2001 and sentenced to life imprisonment. Nadeem Saifi fled to London and has not returned to India. Abu Salem was arrested and is still in jail.
The case remains a high-profile murder in Indian history, and many questions remain unanswered, including the role of Ramesh Taurani, the owner of Tips Company, who was accused of giving a contract to kill Gulshan Kumar.
Here are the key facts from the text:
1. Gulshan Kumar was born in 1951 in a Punjabi family in Delhi.
2. He started helping his father at a juice shop at a young age.
3. At 23, Gulshan Kumar opened a cassette shop selling songs of other companies.
4. He started a company called Super Cassettes Industries, later renamed T-Series.
5. T-Series became a major player in the Indian music industry by the mid-1990s.
6. Gulshan Kumar was a devotee of Lord Shiva and Mother Ambe.
7. He named his company T-Series in 1983, with "T" representing Trishul.
8. Gulshan Kumar gave opportunities to new artists, including Anuradha Paudwal, Sonu Nigam, and Kumar Sanu.
9. Music director Nadeem-Shravan worked with T-Series and achieved huge success with their album Aashiqui.
10. Nadeem wanted to sing, but his songs did not do well, and Gulshan Kumar stopped promoting them.
11. Nadeem was upset with Gulshan Kumar and planned to kill him.
12. A meeting was held in Dubai in May 1997, where Nadeem, Dawood Ibrahim's brother Anees Ibrahim, and Abu Salem planned the murder.
13. Abu Salem monitored Gulshan Kumar's movements and planned the attack.
14. On August 5, 1997, Abu Salem called Gulshan Kumar and demanded a ransom of 10 crores.
15. Gulshan Kumar did not report the threat to the police.
16. Abu Salem called again on August 9, 1997, and Gulshan Kumar refused to pay the ransom.
17. The murder took place on August 12, 1997, outside a temple in Mumbai.
18. Three shooters, Abdul Rauf, Abdul Rashid, and Anil Sharma, were involved in the murder.
19. Gulshan Kumar was shot 16 times and died shortly after arrival at Cooper Hospital.
20. The police had prior information about the murder but did not take action.
21. Abdul Rauf was arrested in 2001 and sentenced to life imprisonment.
22. Music director Nadeem Saifi fled to London after the murder and has not returned to India.
23. Abu Salem was arrested and is still in jail.
24. Nadeem Saifi has denied any involvement in the murder in interviews.