Firing at Salman’s house: Police invoke MCOCA

Mumbai crime branch invokes MCOCA in Salman Khan's residence firing case. Four arrested, Bishnoi brothers wanted. Accused linked to 1998 blackbuck poaching case.

MUMBAI: The Mumbai crime branch has invoked provisions of the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) in the case relating to firing at actor Salman’s Khan residence in Bandra. Four accused in the case have been arrested till date, including two shooters and two persons who provided the weapons, while gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and his brother Anmol Bishnoi have been named as wanted accused in the case.

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“We have applied various sections of the MCOCA on the basis of cases registered against the organised crime syndicate led by the Bishnoi brothers,” said a police officer. The crime branch is also trying to secure custody of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, who is under arrest in some other case, he said.

On April 14, at around 4.55am, two unidentified bike-borne assailants fired five to six rounds at Galaxy Apartments. The actor and his parents were sleeping at home, and nobody was injured in the incident. Hours later, Lawrence Bishnoi’s brother Anmol Bishnoi claimed responsibility for the attack via 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.”

During the investigation, police found that Anmol Bishnoi’s post originated from an Internet Protocol (IP) address based in Portugal. They suspect that Bishnoi used a virtual private network to mask his real location and create a fake IP address for posting the message.

Two days after the firing at Khan’s house, on April 16, the crime branch arrested both the shooters – Vicky Kumar Gupta, 25, and Sagar Kumar Pal, 24, both residents of Bihar’s Champaran region – from Kutch. Earlier this week, two other accused, Sonukumar Subhashchand Bishnoi, 35, and Anujkumar Omprakash Thapan, 23, both residents of Punjab, were arrested for supplying weapons to the shooters.

Police said the accused were in touch with Anmol Bishnoi and they have issued a look out circular against him. The hostility of the Bishnoi gang towards the actor stems from the 1998 blackbuck poaching case in Rajasthan, as the Bishnois hold the blackbuck in high reverence. Sources said after the firing at the actor’s house, Anmol Bishnoi told the shooters, “Accha Kaam Hai, Accha Paisa Milega (It was a good job, you will get good money).”