Update: Salman Khan deleted the offending tweets, and wrote on Twitter: " had tweeted that Tiger Memon should hang for his crimes & I stand by it. What I also said is that Yakub Memon should not hang for him. I have not said or implied that Yakub Memon is innocent. I have complete faith in judicial system of our country. Many lives were lost in the Mumbai blasts. And I have repeatedly said the loss of one innocent life is equal to the loss of all humanity. My dad called & said I should retract my tweets as they have the potential to create misunderstanding. I hereby retract them. I would like to unconditionally apologise for any misunderstanding I may have created unintentionally. I also strongly condemn those who are claiming my tweets are anti-religious. I have always said I respect all faiths and I always will.”

Earlier in the day, veteran Bollywood scriptwriter lashed out at his son Salman Khan for supporting 1993 Mumbai serial blasts accused Yakub Memon and said his tweets about the issue shouldn't be taken seriously.

Salim was quoted by ibnlive.com saying: "Whatever Salman has written is ridiculous and meaningless. Salman is ignorant of the issue and people should not take him seriously."

Salim also spoke out against capital punishment for Yakub Memon, saying: “Yakub should be kept in jail rather be hanged. Keeping him alive is a bigger punishment."

Salman Khan had set the cat among the pigeons with a series of tweets defending Yakub and asking his brother Tiger to be hanged instead. He had tweeted: “Hang Tiger. Brother is being hanged for Tiger. Arre where is Tiger? Get Tiger hang him. Parade him not his brother."

Get tiger hang him. Parade him not his brother July 25, 2015

The Bajrangi Bhaijaan actor, who is currently out on bail took on the Yakub Memon issue with his tweets. The Supreme Court had earlier dismissed Yakub's curative petition against the death sentence and he will be hanged on July 30. The actor went as far as to call Yakub an innocent man, asked authorities to find Tiger and even asked Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to send Tiger if he was in Pakistan.

Sharif Saab ek darkhaust hai k agar yeh aap k mulkh mein hai toh plz iktila kar deejiyeh. — Salman Khan (@BeingSalmanKhan) July 25, 2015

Others also reacted to Salman Khan's tweet while speaking to ANI. Shatrughan Sinha said: “Agar usne aisa kaha hai to aap uski bhaavnayon ko samajhiye.” (If he has said this, you should understand his emotions).

Actor Raza Murad, said: “That's Salman's personal opinion and he has a right to express his opinion as a citizen of a democratic nation.” Senior lawyer KTS Tulsi also said that Yakub's hanging should be reconsidered since he had rendered valuable help in collecting evidence against Pakistan.

Meanwhile, lawyer Abha Singh questioned Salman's statement: “Salman himself is a convict who has been given a punishment of 5 years, still he has the audacity to say Yakub is innocent. Is he trying to question judicial system of country? His statement is very improper & against rule of law.” Here are Salman Khan's tweets that started the entire debate.

N no 1 ever Address him as tiger ever . Does not deserve that at all. Hang that.............. fill in th blanks — Salman Khan (@BeingSalmanKhan) July 25, 2015

been wanting to tweet Tis fr 3 days n was afraid to do so but it involves a man's n family. Don't hang brother hang tha lomdi who ran away — Salman Khan (@BeingSalmanKhan) July 25, 2015

Sharif Saab ek darkhaust hai k agar yeh aap k mulkh mein hai toh plz iktila kar deejiyeh. — Salman Khan (@BeingSalmanKhan) July 25, 2015

Kidhar chupa hai tiger? Hey koi tiger nahi hai hai hai billi aur hum ek billi ko nahi pakad sakteh. — Salman Khan (@BeingSalmanKhan) July 25, 2015

Get tiger hang him. Parade him not his brother — Salman Khan (@BeingSalmanKhan) July 25, 2015

Yaqub menon pe pad k coment karna — Salman Khan (@BeingSalmanKhan) July 25, 2015

Kaun sa tiger kaisa tiger kidhar hai tiger. Samaj raha hai tiger. Kay soch k nam diya tha aur kya maina nikal liya uus ka. — Salman Khan (@BeingSalmanKhan) July 25, 2015