12th accused in Tiger Shroff firing case detained in Sonipat

Based on specific inputs, Aman was detained from Rohna village under Kharkhoda tehsil of Sonipat district in coordination with the Haryana police

Mumbai: The Mumbai police crime branch, which is probing the October 18 firing incident on actor Tiger Shroff, on Thursday detained the 12th accused in the case from Sonipat district in Haryana. The accused, identified as Aman, was close to one of the arrested accused, Kunal Jaminsingh, who allegedly supplied a Turkish-made Zigana pistol that was used in the crime, police officers familiar with the matter told Hindustan Times.

12th accused in Tiger Shroff firing case detained in Sonipat

Based on specific inputs, Aman was detained from Rohna village under Kharkhoda tehsil of Sonipat district in coordination with the Haryana police. Investigators said he had received some funds in his bank account from Anil Pandit, an alleged operative of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang who claimed responsibility for the attack on the actor via social media posts.

“Aman received some money from Pandit in his personal bank account, which he withdrew and gave to Kunal (Jamshingh),” a police officer said, requesting anonymity. “We suspect the money was used to procure the weapon which was subsequently handed over to the two alleged shooters (Rehan Ansari and Phool Singh) in Mumbai.”

The anti-extortion cell under the crime branch will present Aman in a court in Haryana on Friday to seek a transit remand, so that he can be brought to Mumbai and placed under arrest, making him the 12th accused to be arrested in the case, police said.

The police have already invoked the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) in the case. On Thursday, a special MCOCA court remanded the 11 arrested accused to police custody till November 6, holding that investigators needed to trace the source of the weapons, establish the financial and logistical support behind the attack and investigate the accused’s alleged links with a wider organised crime syndicate led by absconding accused Anil Pandit.

The case relates to the October 18 firing in Mumbai’s Juhu area, when Rehan Ansari and Phool Singh allegedly fired several rounds at Shroff’s car before fleeing from the spot with a getaway biker, Hrithik Mahato, who was waiting for them. While the actor escaped largely unhurt, his driver and a bystander sustained bullet injuries.

On October 19, the two alleged shooters and the getaway biker were arrested from aboard a Jaipur-bound train at Kota railway station. The following day, the Delhi police special cell arrested four alleged weapons suppliers – Radha Verma, Babita Rao, Kunal Jaminsingh, and Sumit Saroliya. Three more accused – Sarpanch Khatak alias Ankit, Sameer Khatri, and Jatin Panchal – were arrested from Sonipat, for allegedly providing logistical help and financing. Subsequently, Pranjal Thakral was arrested from Indore, taking the total number of arrests in the case to 11.