MUMBAI, July 17: Four gangsters linked to a dreaded underworld don were shot dead by police on their way to kidnap Bollywood star Manisha Koirala, police said on Wednesday.

Police said they laid a trap for the kidnap squad as they drove to Koirala’s home in Mumbai. When police stopped the blue Maruti car, the gangsters opened fire.

“In the subsequent exchange of fire four were injured and declared dead before admission to a nearby hospital,” a police spokesman said.

Police said the men were linked to the notorious Abu Salem, who is believed to operate an underworld network in India from a base in the United Arab Emirates.

The gang has been accused in the past of trying to extort money from Bollywood film stars and producers.

The immensely popular Koirala, whose life is frequently fodder for India’s celebrity magazines, has acted in movies including the pre-partition romance “1942: A Love Story” and “Bombay”, a saga of the 1993 communal riots in India’s commercial hub.

The 32-year-old is the granddaughter of late Nepalese prime minister B.P. Koirala, the father of the Himalayan kingdom’s ruling Nepali Congress party.

Police say Bollywood luminaries are coming under a terrifying campaign of extortion unleashed by mafia dons who have threatened to murder leading actors if they do not pay huge amounts of money.

Gangsters are known to have issued extortion threats against the legendary Amitabh Bachhan, superstar Shahrukh Khan and leading heartthrob Hrithik Roshan.—AFP