Crime Branch arrests duo of Lawrence Bishnoi gang connected with firing outside Salman Khan's house

Police officials said the arrested duo belonged to Lawrence Bishnoi gang and were in touch with incarcerated gangster’s brother Anmol through a messaging app

The crime branch on Tuesday arrested two people in the Kutch region of Gujrat in connection with the firing at Bollywood star Salman Khan’s Bandra residence on Sunday morning.

Police outside Salman Khan’s house in Bandra. (Raju Shinde/HT photo)

Police officials said the arrested duo belonged to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang and were in touch with the incarcerated gangster’s brother Anmol through a messaging app. Anmol Bishnoi, believed to have fled the country in April 2022, is a wanted accused in the case.

The arrested accused were identified as Vicky Kumar Gupta, 25, and Sagar Kumar Pal, 24, both residents of Bihar’s Champaran region. They were picked up by the police in Kutch early Tuesday morning and brought to Mumbai.

Police officials said the accused had recced Khan’s house thrice and also visited his Panvel farmhouse multiple times. “They knew the actor was residing in his Bandra residence after Eid and had reached there just an hour before they opened fire on Sunday morning,” said a police officer.

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According to the police, around 4.55 am on Sunday, the bike-borne assailants fired five to six rounds at Galaxy Apartments in Bandra West. The actor and his parents were sleeping at the time and nobody was injured in the incident.

After the firing, the accused abandoned their bike on Mount Mary Road in Bandra. They then took a local train from Bandra to Santacruz, went towards Kalina and then changed their clothes to prevent the police from tracking them down, said a second police officer.

From there, the duo took an auto to Dahisar, before eventually reaching Surat, where they disposed of the weapon — a 7.62 mm pistol — by throwing it in the Tapi river. They then went to Bhuj by taking lifts in different vehicles, the officer added.

The police traced the owner of the abandoned bike, who told them that he had sold it on April 2 for ₹24,000, but hadn’t transferred the registration in the purchaser’s name. “We later found out that the duo had rented a house in Panvel’s Harigram locality, around 10 km from Khan’s farmhouse, on March 10,” said the first police officer.

Read Here: Firing exposes Salman Khan’s precarious security situation

Police officials said they tracked down the shooters after they changed their SIM cards. “While scanning technical evidence, we got a clue about the switching of the SIM cards. Using the new SIM numbers, we traced the duo and apprehended them with the help of the Gujarat police from Mata-no-Madh Lakhpat taluka in Kutch,” said the officer.

The Bandra police station has registered a case under sections 307 (attempt to murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and relevant sections of the Indian Arms Act. The case was then handed over to Unit IX of the crime branch, headed by inspector Daya Nayak. The unit worked with teams from the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) and the Anti Extortion Cell (AEC) to track down the duo.

The police is also considering invoking some more stringent sections. “We have already added section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC to the case after Anmol Bishnoi claimed responsibility for the attack,” said Lakhmi Gautam, joint commissioner of police, Mumbai crime branch.

According to another police officer, Anmol Bishnoi runs a gang from a foreign destination while his brother Lawrence is lodged in Tihar jail. Lawrence is accused of killing singer-politician Sidhu Moose Wala, who was shot dead in Punjab’s Mansa district in May 2022. Anmol too has over 18 criminal cases registered against him. His last known location was traced to Kenya.

Salman Khan house firing: ‘Accused did recce actor's residence thrice; 5 rounds shot’, says Mumbai Crime Branch

Hours after the firing, Anmol claimed responsibility for the attack through a social media post: “Salman Khan do not take us lightly. This is the first and last warning. After this, the firing will happen at your home.”

The police said that one of the shooters, Sagar Kumar Pal, has a criminal past and was in touch with Anmol through a messaging app. Pal arranged the weapon used in the firing. “We have also picked Sagar’s younger brother as he was in continuous touch with him before and after the operation,” said Gautam.

After being brought to Mumbai, the arrested duo was produced before additional chief metropolitan magistrate LS Padhen. While seeking their police custody remand, an assistant prosecutor told the court that the accused aimed to threaten Khan and fired at the same spot where he had stood on Eid to wave at his fans.

Apart from Mumbai, Panvel, Gujarat, and Bihar, the investigation will also spread to Punjab, Haryana and Delhi, the prosecutor said. He added that international elements are involved in the matter and a sophisticated weapon was used that needs to be recovered.

Advocate Ajay Dubey, appearing for the accused, told the court that section 307 (attempt to murder) of the IPC was not at all applicable, as no one was injured.

After hearing both sides, the court remanded the duo to police custody till April 25.