- Lashkar-e-Taiba co-founder Amir Hamza was critically injured in a 2026 Lahore shooting by unknown gunmen
- Abdul Rehman Makki, global terrorist, died in Lahore hospital in 2024 from natural causes amid suspicion
- Shahid Latif, planner of 2016 Pathankot attack, was killed in a mosque shooting in Sialkot, 2023
It almost sounds like the setup to a pulp thriller: men on motorcycles, silencers tucked under jackets, a target stepping out for what should have been an ordinary moment. And then, just like that, gunfire, chaos, disappearance. No claims. No faces. Just a headline: "unknown gunmen."
Except this time, it isn't a film.
On April 16, 2026, Lashkar-e-Taiba co-founder Amir Hamza was shot outside a news channel office in Lahore by unidentified assailants, leaving him critically injured in what appears to be yet another precise, targeted attack.
Two men on a motorcycle, a burst of bullets, and then nothing, no trace.
For anyone who has watched Dhurandhar 2, the moment feels eerily familiar.
The Chapter That Didn't Feel Real, Until It Was
In Dhurandhar 2, Aditya Dhar constructs a chilling segment titled "Unknown Men."
It unfolds like a whispered conspiracy: a shadow network eliminating India's most wanted terrorists, one by one, deep inside territories they once considered safe.
Dhurandhar 2 Chapter 5 titled 'Unknown Men'
The film never names the operation. It doesn't need to. The pattern does the talking.
Gunmen appear. Targets fall. Silence follows.
What the film compresses into a single, relentless narrative is, in reality, a scattered series of killings stretching across years, cities, and continents. Karachi. Lahore. Rawalpindi. Kathmandu. Surrey. Each incident different. Each ending the same way.
The Architects Of Violence, And Their Final Moments
Abdul Rehman Makki, The Networker Who Died Quietly
Abdul Rehman Makki was not a field operative. He was something more dangerous, a strategist. Deputy chief of Jamaat-ud-Dawa, financier, recruiter, and ideological mobiliser, Makki's fingerprints were all over Lashkar's global network.
He was linked to the 2008 Mumbai attacks, the Rampur CRPF attack, and the Red Fort assault. In 2023, the United Nations designated him a global terrorist.
According to the Jamaat-ud-Dawa (JuD), Prof Abdul Rahman Makki was undergoing treatment for high diabetes at a private hospital in Lahore before his death
His end was almost anticlimactic. December 27, 2024. Lahore (Pakistan). A hospital bed. His death was officially attributed to natural causes, though its timing and context have often been viewed with suspicion.
In Dhurandhar 2, Makki is shown in a hospital, already weak and under treatment. Yami Gautam appears in a cameo as nurse Shazia Bano, who administers him an injection. Moments later, he goes into cardiac arrest and dies.
Shahid Latif, The Pathankot Conspirator
Shahid Latif was the mind behind the 2016 Pathankot airbase attack that killed seven Indian Air Force personnel.
He had found refuge in Pakistan. It didn't last.
Shahid Latif had allegedly guided the 4 Jaish terrorists who carried out the terror attack in Pathankot
In October 2023, inside a mosque in Sialkot, unidentified gunmen shot him dead. A place of worship became the site of retribution. The killing was swift, clinical, over before anyone could intervene.
Riyaz Ahmad Alias Abu Qasim, The Man Behind Dhangri Attack
Riyaz Ahmad orchestrated the Dhangri attack in Jammu and Kashmir's Rajouri in January 2023, where civilians were gunned down, and an IED detonated the next day.
Months later, on September 9, in Pakistan's Rawalakot, he was inside a mosque during pre-dawn prayers when unknown gunmen opened fire. He died on the spot.
Riyaz Ahmed was considered the brains behind the revival of terrorism in the twin border districts of Poonch and Rajouri
He had crossed into Pakistan in 1999. Over two decades later, the trail ended in a place he likely considered secure.
Zahoor Mistry, The Hijacker Who Never Escaped His Past
Zahoor Mistry was one of the five men who hijacked Indian Airlines flight IC-814 in 1999. He was also the man who stabbed passenger Rupin Katyal to death mid-air.
For years, he lived under a false identity in Karachi, Pakistan.
On March 1, 2022, two bike-borne assailants tracked him down and shot him dead outside his business in Karachi's Akhtar Colony. His funeral reportedly drew top Jaish-e-Mohammed figures.
The Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist was living under a false identity, "Zahid Akhund", for many years
In Dhurandhar 2, Zahoor Mistry's death is staged as a dramatic confrontation.
Ranveer Singh's character, Hamza Ali Mazari, calls up R Madhavan's character Ajay Sanyal (an intelligence chief) and forces Mistry into a final exchange. He is asked to recall the IC-814 hijacking and complete the phrase "Bharat Mata Ki Jai."
Seconds later, he is shot at point-blank range.
Dawood Malik, The Shadow Operator
Dawood Malik, a close aide of Masood Azhar and founder of Lashkar-e-Jabbar, was a key figure in militant operations.
Dawood Malik was targeted by masked men at a private clinic in Pakistan
In October 2023, masked men entered a clinic in Pakistan's North Waziristan and shot him dead before vanishing.
Bashir Ahmad Peer, The Recruiter
Bashir Ahmad Peer spent years recruiting and facilitating infiltration into Jammu and Kashmir.
He had lived in Pakistan for over 15 years.
Bashir Ahmad Peer, alias Imtiyaz Alam, one of India's most wanted designated terrorists, was killed by unknown gunmen outside a shop in Rawalpindi on February 20, 2023
In February 2023, outside a shop in Pak's Rawalpindi, he was gunned down by unknown attackers.
Syed Khalid Raza, The Educator With A Past
Syed Khalid Raza had transitioned into civilian life, working in education. But his past as a militant commander in Al-Badr never left him.
On February 26, 2023, gunmen on a motorcycle waited outside his home in Karachi, Pakistan. As he stepped out, they fired a single shot to the head.
The dreaded terrorist was shot outside his residence in Gulistan-e-Johar Block 7 area of Karachi, Pakistan
The Sindhudesh Revolutionary Army later claimed responsibility. It was one of the rare cases where the "unknown" briefly became known.
Paramjit Singh Panjwar, The Khalistani Link
Paramjit Singh Panjwar, chief of the Khalistan Commando Force, had long been involved in arms smuggling, drug trafficking, and militant operations.
On May 6, 2023, while taking a routine walk in Lahore's Johar Town, two motorcycle-borne assailants approached and shot him dead.
Paramjit Singh Panjwar was designated as a terrorist by India under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in July 2020
In Dhurandhar 2, this exact moment is recreated, fiction mirroring reality almost frame by frame.
In the film, a character inspired by Panjwar (named Amarjit Singh) is shown casually walking in a park. Without buildup or dialogue, unknown gunmen approach and shoot him dead mid-walk.
Hardeep Singh Nijjar, The International Killing
Hardeep Singh Nijjar operated far from South Asia, in Surrey, Canada. One of India's most-wanted terrorists carried a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh on his head,
Hardeep Singh Nijjar was gunned down outside a Gurdwara in a parking area in Canada's Surrey
In June 2023, outside a gurdwara, he was shot dead by unidentified gunmen. His killing expanded the geography of these incidents beyond Pakistan.
Cinema Vs Reality
What Dhurandhar: The Revenge does is deceptively simple, it stitches together a chaotic, multi-year pattern into a single narrative arc.
In the film, Ranveer Singh's character orchestrates a coordinated campaign. Targets fall like dominoes. There is intent, design, and closure.
Reality offers none of that neatness.
These killings happened over the years, across borders, under different circumstances. Some were claimed. Most were not. Some were suspicious deaths. Others were precise assassinations... by "unknown men".
