Firing at Salman Khan’s house:Two arrested for providing pistols remanded to police custody

The Esplanade Metropolitan Magistrate court on Friday remanded the two accused arrested from Punjab for allegedly providing pistols to two arrested earlier for purportedly firing 5/6 rounds at the Bandra house of actor Salman Khan to police custody till April 30

MUMBAI: The Esplanade Metropolitan Magistrate court on Friday remanded the two accused arrested from Punjab for allegedly providing pistols to two arrested earlier for purportedly firing 5/6 rounds at the Bandra house of actor Salman Khan to police custody till April 30.

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Additional chief metropolitan magistrate remanded Sonukumar Subhashchand Bishnoi, 35, and Anujkumar Omprakash Thapan, 23, after the Mumbai police crime branch informed him that the former was in direct touch with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang members.

The court said that since they are accused of providing firearms to the two alleged shooters, both are key figures in the crime and therefore, their custodial interrogation was necessary. The court added that although both the accused claimed to be innocent and unconnected with the firing incident, the fact remained that they were arrested based on technical investigation, and the police recovered both firearms purportedly used in the commission of the crime.

The crime branch informed the court that Bishnoi and Thapan were arrested from Sangrur in Punjab and brought to the city after informing the local police station about their arrest in the case. The police also informed the court that the analysis of their mobile handsets has revealed their direct complicity in the crime. Therefore, they are arrested in the case, and they are required to be interrogated to find the origin of the firearms and the financial support given to them and to unravel the motive behind the crime.

The two unidentified bike-borne assailants fired five to six rounds at Galaxy Apartment around 4:55am on April 14. Though the actor and his parents were sleeping at home, nobody was injured in the incident.

Hours later, incarcerated gangster Lawrence Bishnoi’s brother, Anmol Bishnoi, claimed responsibility for the attack in a social media post, stating, “Salman Khan, do not take us lightly. This is the first and last warning. After this, the firing will happen at your home.” Police have seized the bike used by the assailants and are investigating the roles of all suspects, including Bishnoi, as well as the likely motive behind the shooting.

The police later found that the social media post of Anmol Bishnoi was posted from an Internet Protocol address based in Portugal. The police, however, feel that could be misleading as in most of such cases virtual private networks are used to create fake IP addresses for posting messages on social media.

The crime branch has succeeded in recovering both pistols carried by the shooters from the Tapi river, with one of the weapons allegedly used to fire at the house of the Bollywood actor. Police officials said they have also retrieved four magazines containing 17 live rounds, out of the 38 live cartridges provided to the alleged shooters, from the river near Surat.