Salman Khan recalled his mother’s reaction when he nabbed a thief at their house in the middle of the night, and then proceeded to feed him food.

Maine Pyar Kiya was Salman Khan’s first film as a leading hero.

Salman Khan had a security scare a few months ago when gunmen allegedly opened fire outside his Mumbai residence. This led to the police uncovering a plot against him, and brought to light threats against his life. But did you know that when Salman was a child, he nabbed an intruder wandering around in his house, looting items, and got him to confess to his crimes? In an old interview, Salman recalled the thrilling story, and said that much to his mother’s shock, he fed the thief some food because he was hungry, and then called the cops on him.

Appearing on Preity Zinta’s chat show, Up Close & Personal with PZ, the actor narrated several stories about people just hanging out at his house for months on end. While some of them were friends, like photographer Avinash Gowariker, others were complete strangers who weren’t found out until months had passed and they’d become a part of the family’s daily lives. But on one occasion, after banquet had been thrown at Salman’s house, a rookie thief decided to try his luck.

He said, “One night, after a grand party, Arbaaz and I returned to our bedroom and went to sleep. Suddenly, I woke up to see a large shadow looming over us, moving around comically. I woke Arbaaz up, and told him to stay silent. Then, a man emerged from the shadow, and he didn’t look that big. He seemed to be dancing. I gestured to Arbaaz that at the count of three, we’d jump him. We managed to overpower him, and tied him up.”

Salman said that he began to question the thief, who confessed that this was his first time trying to conduct a robbery. He was dancing because he was wearing a Walkman that he’d stolen from the house. When Salman asked what all he’d taken, the thief presented Rs 5, which is all they had as kids. Salman asked the thief if he’d eaten, and when the thief said he hadn’t, Salman gave him some food. He continued, “By then, my mother had come, and she was like, ‘Who is this man?’ I told her that he’s a thief, and she was like, ‘Why are you feeding him?’”

Salman told the thief that after the meal, he’d have to summon the police. “It was around 6 in the morning now, and just as we were going to take the thief to the police station, the thief suggested that instead of taking him there and being held up by all the paperwork, we should just tie him up outside. He asked us to tie a single knot on him, and just as the cops were coming, he managed to wiggle out of it and escape,” Salman said. When Preity said that the thief must watch his films diligently now, Salman said that he probably wouldn’t even know who he’d interacted with that night.