Gippy Grewal on mob threat: Punjab’s CM assured me that nothing would happen to me

Actor-singer Gippy Grewal, who was threatened by the mobster Dilpreet in June — that’s the same person who fired upon another Punjabi artist, Parmish Verma — is back on the film promotion trail and says that he was personally assured by Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh of his safety.

Speaking to us while promoting his film, Mar Gaye Oye Loko, in the Capital, Gippy says that the threat didn’t “affect” him, and adds that since the incident, police personnel and his team have made sure that he feels secure.

“One has to work, and you can’t get affected by such incidents. In my case, I’ve been really lucky to get the support of the police and my team, who have made sure that I don’t get bothered by such incidents,” says the 35-year-old singer.

Read| Now, Gippy Grewal gets extortion call from Punjab gangster Dilpreet Dhahan

In June, an extortion call was made by Dilpreet to Gippy, and he was threatened that unless he met the gangster’s demand, he’d be shot, just like Parmish, who was shot and injured by the same mobster in April this year.

“The call was made to my office, and my team handled it after that. A complaint was lodged, and the guy has even been arrested. After that, Punjab’s chief minister called me to his office, and assured me that [Dilpreet] would be caught and nothing would happen to me. Since then, I’ve been surrounded by policemen and commandos, and they have made sure that there’s always security around me,” says Gippy.

Ever since that incident, his team changes his phone number frequently, reveals Gippy. “My team now gets me a new number after every 15 days. So no one knows what’s my next number after 15 days. Those who are on my team, and are my close friends and family, even they have adjusted to this, and understand why it’s important,” he says.

Read| Gangster Dilpreet to be quizzed for threat calls to Punjabi actor Gippy Grewal

“Of course, you never imagine that these things [can] happen to you. But now that it has happened, I just look at it as the cons of fame. These things happen, and there can be another star who can get similar threat calls. But as I said, you don’t stop working because of such incidents, and I don’t have a different perspective about that,” he adds.

Interact with the author on Twitter/@sammysamarth

First Published: Aug 23, 2018 17:12 IST