In what could be called his first public comments following the murder of his close friend and NCP leader Baba Siddique, Bollywood superstar Salman Khan said he has to handle quarrels between “Bigg Boss 18” contestants at a time when he is “going through” a certain phase in his life. Siddique, the former Maharashtra minister known for his starry iftar parties and Bollywood connections, was gunned down on October 12 outside his MLA son Zeeshan Siddique’s Mumbai office.

According to police, Siddique may have been targeted by gangster Lawrence Bishnoi because of his proximity to Khan. On Saturday’s Weekend ka Vaar episode of “Bigg Boss 18”, on which the actor serves as the host, Khan said he wanted to give the popular reality series a miss.

“Yaar, qasam khuda ki what all I am going through in my life and I have to come and handle this (arguments between housemates) I feel that I shouldn’t have come here today. But you have to do what you have to do,” Khan can be seen saying as per several videos circulating on social media.

“Mere par bhi bahut saare laanchan lagaye gaye hain (I have been accused of many things). I know what my parents go through,” he added in another clip.

It could not be immediately confirmed whether this episode was filmed before or after Siddique’s killing.

Though Khan didn’t share a post condoling Siddique’s passing on social media, he visited the slain politician’s Bandra residence last Sunday hours before his burial service. The Mumbai traffic police received a threat message demanding Rs 5 crore from the Bollywood actor, following which the Crime Branch began a probe an official said on Friday.

A case was registered at Worli police under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for threat and extortion after the city’s traffic control room received the message on its WhatsApp helpline on Thursday afternoon, he said.

Khan had earlier received death threats from the Bishnoi gang whose members had also opened fire outside the actor’s Bandra home in April.