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MUMBAI/Jaipur: Police teams probing the firing on Salman Khan‘s residence have fanned out to Delhi, Jaipur and Bihar to trace the two shooters who are suspected to have left Mumbai immediately after the incident. One has been identified as Vishal alias Kalu, a suspect in the murder of Sachin Munjal, a bookie in Gurgaon. The other is possibly from Rajasthan, where a Mumbai ATS team is questioning members of the Lawrence Bishnoi and Rohit Godara gangs who are in custody.
Within hours of the firing, a lead took Mumbai cops to an address in Panvel where the duo stayed for 15 days with fake identities. They quizzed three persons – the owner of the house, owner of the bike used in the firing, and a broker who negotiated its purchase.
Dump data of mobile phones used around Khan’s residence suggest the two abandoned the bike in Bandra after the firing, took an auto rickshaw to Santacruz station from where they took a train to Andheri before their phones were switched off. They may have taken a long distance train out of the city. CCTV footage showed the duo wearing caps and T-shirts and carrying backpacks on foot in the vicinity of Khan’s residence.
Preliminary investigations suggest the conspiracy was hatched in Canada by a member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, which gunned down popular Punjabi rapper-singer Sidhu Moose Wala. The shooters are believed to have conducted two or three recces.
“The shooters may have been asked by their handlers to scare the actor by firing at his residence. Two days ago on Eid, when Khan appeared on the balcony and waved to fans, the shooters may have been there but due to police bandobast they could have developed cold feet,” said an officer.
The two bike-borne individuals wearing helmets had fired five rounds outside Khan’s residence around 5 am on Sunday. One shell was found on his balcony and its forensic analysis has led sleuths to believe the firearm used was a country-made pistol.
Police sources said the fact that the shooters fired blindly outside Khan’s residence suggest the intention was not to harm Khan but to intimidate him.
Maharashtra home department late Sunday transferred the case to the city crime branch. Since Nov 2022, Khan’s security had been elevated to Y-Plus on account of threats from gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi and Goldy Brar. Last year on Mumbai police’s request, he applied for a personal arms license, which was immediately issued. In Nov 2023, police reviewed his security following another threat by the Bishnoi gang. The threat was in a Facebook post to Punjabi singer-actor Gippy Grewal while claiming responsibility for shots fired outside Grewal’s Canada residence.
Bishnoi’s nephew, Anmol, is believed to have used a gangster named Rohit Godara, also based in Canada, to plan the latest attack. Godara is believed to have engaged the two youths, including Kalu, who is accused in cases of robbery, snatching and illegal weapon possession. Kalu is believed to have come in contact with Godara’s gang in Tihar Jail. Anmol Bishnoi has purportedly claimed responsibility for the shootout in an online post. Police have tracked the VPN of Anmol’s post to Portugal.
A Mumbai ATS team in Jaipur comprising three additional SPs, interrogated Rithik Boxer, an associate of Godara and Bishnoi, lodged in Sodala Jail.
Boxer has eight cases registered in police stations in Jaipur, three in Hanumangarh, and one in Bikaner. He was apprehended by a police team at Raxaul on March 20, 2023, while attempting to enter India via Bihar from Nepal.
Within hours of the firing, a lead took Mumbai cops to an address in Panvel where the duo stayed for 15 days with fake identities. They quizzed three persons – the owner of the house, owner of the bike used in the firing, and a broker who negotiated its purchase.
Dump data of mobile phones used around Khan’s residence suggest the two abandoned the bike in Bandra after the firing, took an auto rickshaw to Santacruz station from where they took a train to Andheri before their phones were switched off. They may have taken a long distance train out of the city. CCTV footage showed the duo wearing caps and T-shirts and carrying backpacks on foot in the vicinity of Khan’s residence.
Preliminary investigations suggest the conspiracy was hatched in Canada by a member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, which gunned down popular Punjabi rapper-singer Sidhu Moose Wala. The shooters are believed to have conducted two or three recces.
“The shooters may have been asked by their handlers to scare the actor by firing at his residence. Two days ago on Eid, when Khan appeared on the balcony and waved to fans, the shooters may have been there but due to police bandobast they could have developed cold feet,” said an officer.
The two bike-borne individuals wearing helmets had fired five rounds outside Khan’s residence around 5 am on Sunday. One shell was found on his balcony and its forensic analysis has led sleuths to believe the firearm used was a country-made pistol.
Police sources said the fact that the shooters fired blindly outside Khan’s residence suggest the intention was not to harm Khan but to intimidate him.
Maharashtra home department late Sunday transferred the case to the city crime branch. Since Nov 2022, Khan’s security had been elevated to Y-Plus on account of threats from gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi and Goldy Brar. Last year on Mumbai police’s request, he applied for a personal arms license, which was immediately issued. In Nov 2023, police reviewed his security following another threat by the Bishnoi gang. The threat was in a Facebook post to Punjabi singer-actor Gippy Grewal while claiming responsibility for shots fired outside Grewal’s Canada residence.
Bishnoi’s nephew, Anmol, is believed to have used a gangster named Rohit Godara, also based in Canada, to plan the latest attack. Godara is believed to have engaged the two youths, including Kalu, who is accused in cases of robbery, snatching and illegal weapon possession. Kalu is believed to have come in contact with Godara’s gang in Tihar Jail. Anmol Bishnoi has purportedly claimed responsibility for the shootout in an online post. Police have tracked the VPN of Anmol’s post to Portugal.
A Mumbai ATS team in Jaipur comprising three additional SPs, interrogated Rithik Boxer, an associate of Godara and Bishnoi, lodged in Sodala Jail.
Boxer has eight cases registered in police stations in Jaipur, three in Hanumangarh, and one in Bikaner. He was apprehended by a police team at Raxaul on March 20, 2023, while attempting to enter India via Bihar from Nepal.
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