Washington: The highly controversial case of missing Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi has picked up more steam as Saudi Arabia’s crown prince has allegedly planned the conspiracy targeting the journalist.

Khashoggi – a US resident and one of the more outspoken critics of the regime of King Salman and his son, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman – disappeared after entering the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on October 2, and Turkish officials suspect he was murdered.

Saudi officials had been heard discussing a plan to lure Khashoggi from the US state of Virginia, where he resided, and detain him, reported The Washington Post citing unnamed US officials.

State Department deputy spokesman Robert Palladino earlier insisted that the United States had no forewarning of any concrete threat to Khashoggi.

The case has sparked outrage from human rights and journalism groups and threatens to harm ties between Saudi Arabia and the United States, which has demanded answers from the kingdom over the disappearance of Khashoggi.