Mumbai police’s crime branch late on Monday night arrested the two shooters who allegedly fired at actor Salman Khan’s house in Bandra last week.
Sources said the suspects, identified as Vicky Gupta, 25, and Sagar Shrijogendra Pal, 21, were arrested from a temple in Gujarat’s Bhuj where they were hiding late on Monday night. Police said the duo originally hailed from Bihar’s East Champaran district and belonged to gangster Lawrence Bishnoi's gang.
A police officer said the two accused had carried out a recce around the actor’s house in Bandra. According to him, the accused shot five rounds — one of them hit the wall and another the gallery of Salman’s residence.
A preliminary probe suggested that Sagar and Vicky had been hired by the Bishnoi gang to open fire at Salman’s house.
Following the shootout outside Salman’s Galaxy Apartments on Sunday morning, Anmol Bishnoi, Lawrence Bishnoi’s brother, claimed responsibility in an online post, describing it as a “preview” and issuing a warning to the actor.
The two arrested accused were brought to Mumbai and produced before a magistrate court on Tuesday morning. Police sought 14 days' custody of the two men on the ground that their custodial interrogation was required to ascertain details of the "conspiracy" and to identify the mastermind behind the firing. The court remanded the duo in police custody till April 25.
Investigators probing the firing said the attack was meticulously planned for a month in the US by the Bishnoi gang. The two accused were selected from a pool of professional shooters from Maharashtra, Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab.
Police and security agencies across several states in northern India are jointly probing the incident to unearth the web of connections and the crime network behind the attack.
Lawrence Bishnoi is lodged in Tihar jail for his alleged involvement in several high-profile murder cases including those of Sidhu Moose Wala and Rajput leader and Karni Sena chief Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi.
Bishnoi’s brother Anmol and one of his close aides Rohit Godara —both based in the US — allegedly planned the attack a month ago.
Last year, the National Investigation Agency had said Salman figured among the targets that jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi planned to eliminate, citing the actor’s 1998 black buck hunting incident, which according to the gangster had offended the Bishnoi community. The Black buck, according to him, is considered sacred by the community.
In March last year, an email threatening Salman was received at his office following which the Mumbai police registered an FIR against Lawrence Bishnoi under IPC Sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 34 (common intention).