Mumbai:

A new charge sheet filed against five accused of plotting to assassinate Bollywood actor Salman Khan has revealed chilling details. According to the Navi Mumbai Police, the accused, associated with the notorious Lawrence Bishnoi gang, have been charged with conspiracy to murder and other grave offences. 

On April 14, Two men on motorbikes fired multiple rounds outside Mr Khan’s residence in Bandra, leading to the arrest of several individuals.

According to the charge sheet, the Bishnoi gang had issued a contract worth Rs 25 lakh to assassinate the actor. The plan was hatched over several months, from August 2023 to April 2024. Investigations have revealed that the gang intended to acquire advanced firearms from Pakistan, including AK-47s, AK-92s, M16 rifles, and the Turkish-made Zigana pistol, the weapon used in the murder of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala on May 29, 2022.

The conspiracy wasn’t merely confined to acquiring weapons; it extended to a well-orchestrated surveillance operation. According to the charge sheet, a network of approximately 60 to 70 individuals was involved in tracking Mr Khan’s every movement. This extensive surveillance covered his residence in Mumbai, his Panvel farmhouse, and even the Goregaon Film City, where he often visited for film shoots.

The charge sheet claims that boys below the age of 18 were recruited to execute the assassination. These minors were reportedly waiting for orders from Goldie Brar and Anmol Bishnoi, key figures in the gang believed to be operating from North America, to initiate the attack.

A day after the shooting incident outside Mr Khan’s home, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde met with the actor and assured all help.

“The government is with you, I have told Salman Khan. Both the accused have been arrested. They will be interrogated. We will get to the root of the case. Nobody will be spared. Nobody should targeted this way,” Eknath Shinde told reporters outside the actor’s home.

“No gang or gang war will be allowed. We won’t allow this to happen. We will finish (Lawrence) Bishnoi,” he added.

Mumbai:

AK-47 and M-16 rifles from Pakistan, minor sharpshooters and an escape plan to Sri Lanka – the police have uncovered chilling details of an assassination plot to kill Bollywood actor Salman Khan. The Lawrence Bishnoi gang had allegedly conspired to strike Mr Khan’s car in Maharashtra’s Panvel, armed with weapons sourced from a Pakistani arms supplier.

The intricate plan, allegedly hatched by the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, involved a sophisticated network of operatives and a cache of high-powered weapons. According to Navi Mumbai police sources, the gang enlisted the help of 60 to 70 individuals, each assigned specific roles in the execution of the diabolical plot.

Central to the scheme was the use of minors as shooters. The plan aimed to strike at Mr Khan’s vehicle in Panvel or target his secluded farmhouse.

Among those arrested in connection with this are Dhananjay Tapesingh alias Ajay Kashyap, Gaurav Bhatia alias Nahvi, Vapsi Khan alias Waseem Chikna, and Rizwan Khan, each believed to have played a key role in the plot. Lawrence Bishnoi, who is currently in jail, his cousin Anmol Bishnoi, and associate Goldie Brar, allegedly facilitated the acquisition of the deadly weapons from the Pakistani dealer known only as Dogar.

Kashyap, a key member of the Bishnoi gang, lived in Navi Mumbai’s Kalamboli. He was in touch with a person identified as Sukha Shooter, who has Bishnoi’s photo as his profile picture. Kashyap and his cohorts held clandestine meetings in strategic locations such as the Panvel bus stand and railway station, plotting to execute their plans, including reconnaissance of Salman Khan’s properties.

Their footprint extends across multiple states and borders, with Kashyap’s trail leading to illegal arms depots in Kashmir, Ganganagar, and even the Pakistan border.

Conversations between Kashyap and Bishnoi revealed frequent discussions among the associates about the exchange of weapons and coordination via WhatsApp calls.

Additionally, after assassinating Mr Khan, Bishnoi and Goldie Brar planned to pay a substantial sum of money to the hitmen, with the funds transferred from Canada.

The gang was prepared to use modern weapons such as AK-47s, M16s, and AK-92s to carry out the assassination. Similar weapons were used in the murder of the Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala. The gang members were shown weapons like AK-47s and ammunition through WhatsApp video calls.

Following the execution of the attack, the attackers were instructed to flee to Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu, where they would be ferried by sea to Sri Lanka. From there, arrangements were in place for their safe passage to another country, facilitated by Anmol Bishnoi, based in Canada.

Further investigations uncovered the gang’s collaboration with other criminal outfits, notably with the organisation formerly led by gangster Anand Pal, now overseen by his daughter Chinu.

On April 14, when two bike-borne men opened fire outside Mr Khan’s residence in Mumbai’s Bandra. After the incident, police arrested four suspects: Vicky Gupta and Sagar Pal, who were apprehended in Gujarat, while Anuj Thapan and another individual were detained in Punjab on April 26. In total, six arrests have been made, although Anuj Thapan died in police custody.
 

Two pistols used by shooters to fire at the Mumbai home of Bollywood actor Salman Khan were recovered from a river in Gujarat, police said on Tuesday. Divers also found three magazines and 13 cartridges from the Tapi river in Surat.

The shooters — Vicky Gupta, 24, and Sagar Pal, 21 — who fired five rounds at the actor’s Galaxy Apartment home in Bandra on the morning of April 14 were arrested from Gujarat last week. They were allegedly receiving instructions from jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and his brother Anmol, police said.

In a video shared by the police, a diver is seen emerging from the river with one of the guns and a magazine in his hand. While only one gun was used, police said Gupta and Pal were given one gun each to carry out the shooting. Pal allegedly fired the gun while Gupta was riding the motorbike they were on, they said.

Last week, the police had named Bishnoi, who is lodged in the Sabarmati central prison in Gujarat in another case, and his brother who is believed to be in Canada or the US as “wanted accused” in the case. A social media post, created in the name of Anmol Bishnoi, taking responsibility for the attack, surfaced after the shooting.

According to police sources, the shooters were allegedly paid Rs 1 lakh to carry out the attack to scare the Bollywood actor but not to injure him. Before the attack, the two also conducted a ‘recce’ of Mr Khan’s farmhouse in Panvel. The accused purchased multiple SIM cards and frequently changed them across different locations.

A case of attempt to murder and criminal intimidation has been filed by the Mumbai Crime Branch. 
The police is also set to record Mr Khan’s statement as a witness in the case.

Mumbai:

Mumbai police has declared jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and his younger brother Anmol Bishnoi as “wanted accused” in connection with the incident of firing outside Bollywood actor Salman Khan’s residence here, an official said on Saturday.

Vicky Gupta and Sagar Pal, arrested in the case earlier this week, were allegedly receiving instructions from the two Bishnoi brothers, he said.

While Lawrence Bishnoi is lodged in the Sabarmati central prison in Gujarat in another case, his brother is believed to be in Canada or the US, the official said, adding that Mumbai Police is likely to seek Lawrence’s custody soon.

The crime branch of police, which is investigating the case, has added Indian Penal Code sections 506 (2) (criminal intimidation with a threat to cause death or serious injury) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence or giving false information to shield offender) to the First Information Report (FIR), the official further informed.

Police had registered the FIR under IPC section 307 (attempt to murder) after two motorbike-borne men fired at Galaxy Apartment in Bandra, Salman Khan’s residence, in the early morning of April 14.

On April 16, police arrested Gupta and Pal from Bhuj in Gujarat. Pal allegedly fired the shots while Gupta was riding the motorbike, officials claimed.

A Facebook post taking responsibility for the attack, created in the name of Anmol Bishnoi, surfaced after the incident.

The IP address from where the post had been uploaded was traced to Portugal, the official said. Notably, it had been uploaded three hours before the firing incident. The Facebook account in Anmol’s name was created by using a foreign mobile number, the police official added. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Mumbai:

Another suspect involved in the Salman Khan firing case was detained from Haryana Wednesday night. As per police sources, this individual served as a liaison between the Lawrence Bishnoi gang and the shooters – Vicky Gupta, 24, and Sagar Kumar Palak, 21 – who are in police custody. 

On Sunday at 4:55 am, two men on a motorcycle fired five rounds outside Galaxy Apartments in Mumbai’s Bandra, where the actor resides, and fled from the spot.

Sagar Kumar Palak, one of the two suspects, was allegedly provided with a gun just hours before the incident, sourced from the Bandra area on the night of April 13. However, the identity of the person supplying the weapon remains unknown, police said. Both the accused are from West Champaran in Bihar and were arrested by Mumbai Police from the premises of a temple in Gujarat’s Kutch district late Monday night. 

According to police sources, both Palak and his accomplice Vicky Gupta were allegedly offered Rs 4 lakh to carry out the shooting, with an initial payment of Rs 1 lakh provided upfront. The intended objective, as stated by Mumbai Crime Branch officials, was not to murder Mr Khan but to scare him.

“The accused conducted a ‘recce’ of Salman Khan’s farmhouse in Panvel. They intended to just scare him, not murder him. The statements of both families have been recorded in Bihar. Around 7 people have been called from Haryana and other states for questioning, which is ongoing,” a Mumbai Crime Branch official said, as quoted by news agency ANI. 

The Mumbai Crime Branch is also set to record Mr Khan’s statement as a witness in the case. 

Yesterday afternoon, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde met with the actor and assured him all help. 

“The government is with you, I have told Salman Khan. Both the accused have been arrested. They will be interrogated. We will get to the root of the case. Nobody will be spared. Nobody should targeted this way,” Eknath Shinde told reporters outside the actor’s home.

“No gang or gang war will be allowed. We won’t allow this to happen. We will finish (Lawrence) Bishnoi,” he added.

Last year, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said that Mr Khan topped the list of 10 main targets that jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi planned to eliminate, citing the actor’s infamous 1998 black buck hunting incident, which according to the gangster, offended the Bishnoi community.