Several Indian and Bengali news outlets recently published erroneous reports claiming that the Home Department of Pakistan’s Balochistan province had declared Bollywood actor Salman Khan a “terrorist.” The root of this widespread misinformation was a fraudulent notification allegedly issued by the Balochistan administration.
This fake news began circulating after a panel discussion at the Joy Forum on October 17, 2025, where Salman Khan, Aamir Khan, and Shah Rukh Khan were present. During the event, Salman Khan commented, “If you make and release a Hindi movie here (Saudi Arabia), it will be a blockbuster. Even Tamil, Telugu or Malayalam movies will do business of 100 crores, because a lot of foreigners, including people from Balochistan, Afghanistan and Pakistan, are working here.” Soon after the actor’s statement went viral on social media, the fabricated notification began to circulate.
Based on this viral fake notification, several mainstream Indian media outlets, including The Times of India, Mint, The Telegraph, News18, DD News, Money Control, and Outlook, published reports. Many Bengali media outlets, such as Anandabazar Patrika, Ei Samay, News18 Bangla, and Kolkata TV, also echoed the same false claim.
The fraudulent notification falsely claimed that the Balochistan Provincial Government issued the order on October 16, 2025, listing Salman Khan as a “Supporter of Free Balochistan” under the Fourth Schedule of Pakistan’s Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997. It was later verified that the entire story was based on a forged document.