Mumbai:

The plan to assassinate former Maharashtra minister and NCP leader Baba Siddique was conceived just 10 days after the shooting incident outside Bollywood actor Salman Khan’s residence on April 14, Mumbai Police’s Crime Branch sources have said. 

Two men on motorbikes fired multiple rounds outside Mr Khan’s residence in Bandra in April, leading to the arrest of several individuals. Sources revealed that following the incident, the Lawrence Bishnoi gang sought to target individuals close to the actor. Baba Siddique, a close friend of Salman Khan, emerged as a prime target. 

Investigations have revealed the gang’s reliance on “dabba calling,” an illegal telephone exchange system, to coordinate the murder. “Dabba Calling” is a term likely derived from the use of a secondary phone (dabba) to issue threats. Anmol Bishnoi, Lawrence Bishnoi’s brother, allegedly used this system extensively to instruct key operatives, including Shiv Kumar Gautam, Zeeshan Akhtar, Shubham Lonkar, and Sujit Singh.

The gang had established its own telecommunication hub. This network ensured real-time coordination during the crime while shielding the conspirators from police tracking.

Baba Siddique, aged 66, was gunned down near his son and MLA Zeeshan Siddique’s Bandra office on October 12. According to Crime Branch sources, Shiv Kumar Gautam, believed to be the lead shooter, lingered at the crime scene for 20 minutes post-attack.

Gautam discarded a bag containing his pistol, shirt, and Aadhaar card before blending into the panicked crowd. Witnessing the chaos and police presence, he took further steps to avoid detection, including changing his clothes and returning to the scene to gauge the situation.

Later, Gautam reportedly boarded an autorickshaw and headed to Lilavati Hospital to confirm Mr Siddique’s death. At 10:47 pm, he left for Kurla railway station, discarding his mobile phone en route to eliminate potential evidence. Authorities are still working to recover the device.

Further probing revealed that Shubham Lonkar, another suspect, had undergone weapons training in the dense forests near Bilaspur in Chhattisgarh, in July. Crime Branch officials suspect that Lonkar’s training, involving an AK-47, was facilitated by Maoists, though this connection remains under investigation. 

New Delhi:

Jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi’s brother Anmol Bishnoi had given a nine-minute “motivational” speech to the shooters who fired multiple shots at the Bollywood actor Salman’ Khans Mumbai home in April.

According to the chargesheet filed by the Mumbai police’s crime branch, which NDTV accessed, Anmol Bishnoi had told the two shooters – Vicky Gupta and Sagar Pal – that they would “script history” when they would attack the actor’s residence.

The two motorbike-borne individuals, Gupta and Pal, had fired multiple shots outside Mr Khan’s home in Galaxy Apartment in Bandra on the morning of April 14.

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In the speech, which was given through an audio note, Anmol Bishnoi told both the shooters – currently in judicial custody in connection with the case – that they were going to do the “best work” of their lives. 

“Do this work well. After the work is completed, you guys will script history,” he told the shooters, according to the 1,735-page chargesheet filed before a special court in Mumbai.

Anmol Bishnoi also encouraged Gupta and Pal by saying they would do “religious work”. 

“Do not be afraid at all while doing this work. Doing this work means bringing a change in the society,” he said.

He also told Gupta and Pal that the Bishnoi gang has a “style that whenever we go to do any work, we empty the magazine of the gun”. 

“You also empty the magazine when you reach outside Salman Khan’s house,” he said in the audio note.

“Firing Should Scare Salman Khan”

“Fire shots in such a manner that it scares Salman Khan” — this was also the blunt message given by gangster Lawrence Bishnoi’s younger brother Anmol to one of the gunmen involved in the shooting.

Bishnoi, the chargesheet says, told Vicky Gupta and Sagar Pal not to wear helmets and smoke cigarettes to appear fearless.

Anmol Bishnoi was in constant touch with Gupta and Pal before the shooting, the police have found. 

The shooters and three others, Sonukumar Bishnoi, Mohammad Rafiq Choudhary, and Harpal Singh, have been arrested and are currently in judicial custody.

Lawrence Bishnoi, Anmol, and one Rawtaran Bishnoi are the wanted accused in the chargesheet. 

Anmol is believed to be in Canada and a lookout circular has been issued against him.

Mumbai:

Salman Khan should get scared: this is what gangster Lawrence Bishnoi’s brother Anmol had told the shooters who fired multiple shots at the actor’s Mumbai home on April 14, police have found.

In its 1,735-page chargesheet filed before a special court, Crime Branch has mentioned audio clips of conversations between the shooters and Anmol Bishnoi ahead of the firing. Bishnoi, the chargesheet says, told shooters Vicky Gupta and Sagar Pal to not wear helmets and smoke cigarettes to appear fearless.

The chargesheet also mentions Salman Khan’s statement, in which he has said that his family is in danger of being attacked by Anmol Bishnoi. In their conversations over Signal app, Anmol Bishnoi instructed the shooters to fire multiple shots targeting the actor’s home, the chargesheet says. “Fire in a way that Bhai (Salman) gets scared, keep smoking so that you appear fearless on (CCTV) camera,” he said.

The chargesheet says Anmol Bishnoi was in constant touch with Gupta and Pal before the shooting. The police have also said that gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, who is now in jail, had spoken to the shooters. Anmol, the chargesheet says, told the shooters that if they are successful, they will “create history” and their name will appear in media.

The shooters and three others, Sonukumar Bishnoi, Mohammad Rafiq Choudhary and Harpal Singh, have been arrested and are currently in judicial custody.

Lawrence Bishnoi, Anmol and one Rawtaran Bishnoi are the wanted accused in the chargesheet. Anmol is believed to be in Canada and a lookout circular has been issued against him.

New Delhi:

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday fumed over the “incomplete” autopsy report of Anuj Thapan, an accused arrested in connection with firing outside actor Salman Khan’s house and died in police custody.

A vacation bench of Justices N R Borkar and Somasekhar Sundaresan perused the post-mortem report and said it does not include vital details, such as diagram of the ligature mark found on the neck of the deceased’s body and if there were any other injuries on the body.

The bench was hearing a petition filed by Rita Devi, the mother of accused Anuj Thapan, who died on May 1 inside the toilet of the lock-up of the Mumbai police’s crime branch.

While the police claim that Thapan killed himself, his mother Rita Devi in her petition filed on May 3 in the high court alleged foul play and claimed that he was killed.

Ms Devi in the plea sought the HC to direct the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to probe the death of her son.

The petition said that Thapan was physically assaulted and tortured by the police in custody.

On Wednesday, additional public prosecutor Jayesh Yagnik submitted a preliminary report on the inquiry being carried out by the state CID into Thapan’s death.

Yagnik also submitted Thapan’s post-mortem report.

The court perused it and said that as per the report, the cause of the death is asphyxiation, but certain other details were missing.

“Where is the diagram of the ligature mark? Is the ligature mark oblique in shape or round? Death by asphyxiation can also be because of strangling. It need not be because of hanging only,” the court said.

It added that the report also does not have the column giving details of whether there were any other injuries on the deceased’s body.

“This is not a complete post-mortem report. It is incomplete,” the high court said.

Yagnik said the investigating team would make necessary enquiries with the doctors concerned.

The bench directed a copy of the report to be handed over to the petitioner and posted the matter for further hearing in June.

Senior counsel Aabad Ponda, appearing for Salman Khan, sought deletion of the actor’s name as party respondent in the plea and claimed that the petitioner has not made any pleadings against the actor.

“The actor is in fact the victim here. Someone tried to attack him (Khan) and his house. He does not know who is behind the attacks and who have been arrested,” Mr Ponda said.

He added that naming him as a respondent in the present plea was sending a wrong signal and causing damage to his reputation.

Ms Devi’s advocate submitted to the court that at present the petitioner was not seeking any relief or action against Mr Khan.

The court took note of the same.

On April 14, two bike-borne persons opened fire outside actor Salman Khan’s residence in Bandra area.

The duo – Vicky Gupta and Sagar Pal – was later arrested from Gujarat. Thapan was arrested on April 26 from Punjab along with one other person in the case.

A total of six persons were arrested in the case, of whom Thapan died. While four are in judicial custody, the fifth accused arrested earlier this week is in police custody.

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

Mumbai:

The Mumbai crime branch has arrested a member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang from Rajasthan for allegedly providing financial help to the shooters involved in firing outside Bollywood superstar Salman Khan’s house, officials said on Tuesday.

The accused, Mohammed Rafique Chowdhary (37), said in a meeting with shooters that Anmol Bishnoi, the younger brother of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, had given him a “bigger task” than them, the official said.

Chowdhary was arrested from Bansi village of Nagaur district in Rajasthan, he said.

Two motorcycle-borne persons opened fire outside Mr Khan’s residence at the Galaxy Apartment in Mumbai’s Bandra area on April 14 and fled the spot.

Chowdhary , the fifth person to be arrested in the firing case, was produced before a Mumbai court which sent him in police custody, the official said.

His name cropped up during the interrogation of the other accused persons and also during technical analysis of their mobile phones, he said.

Chowdhary’s family members stay in Mumbai and run a dairy business. Chowdhary, who has studied up to Class 12, was in direct contact with Anmol Bishnoi and another gang leader, Rohit Gadara, he said.

He used to work in the dairy business of his family in South Mumbai. However, during the pandemic, the dairy business shut down, following which he came into contact with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, the official said.

He was recruited into the gang by Anmol Bishnoi. After joining the gang, he used to remain mostly in his hometown, the official said.

When alleged shooters Sagar Pal and Vicky Gupta came to Mumbai, Anmol Bishnoi instructed them to meet Chowdhary. The trio met at Kurla on April 8, a week before shooting outside Mr Khan’s house, the official said.

During the meeting, Chowdhary told the shooters to complete the task given to them and leave the metropolis.

Anmol Bishnoi told Chowdhary he had been given a “bigger task” than the shooters, he said.

The Mumbai police are now investigating what kind of task Chowdhary was assigned by Anmol Bishnoi, he said.

According to another official, Chowdhary has surveyed Mr Khan’s residence several times.

As Chowdhary was in direct contact with Anmol Bishnoi and Rohit Gudara, the crime branch suspects that the two gangsters are together, he said.

Earlier, Gudara was traced in the UK and he may be now with Anmol Bishnoi in the USA, he said.

Choudhary allegedly provided financial support to Pal and Gupta to purchase a motorcycle and rent a house, he said.

The shooters had received money from various persons connected with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, including Chowdhary, who had provided over Rs 1 lakh in cash for the purchase of a motorbike, renting a house in Panvel near Mumbai, and other expenses, said the official.

Chowdhary also received money from the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, the official said.

One of the arrested persons, Anuj Thapan, who was accused of supplying weapons to the shooters, allegedly hanged himself in a police lock-up here on May 1.

Lawrence Bishnoi, currently lodged in the Sabarmati central prison in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad, and his younger brother Anmol Bishnoi, who is believed to be in the US or Canada, have been named in the firing case.

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

Mumbai:

Two men arrested for firing outside Bollywood superstar Salman Khan’s residence in Mumbai had conducted a survey of his farmhouse at Panvel in adjoining Raigad district four days before the shooting incident, police said on Thursday.

Prima facie, the duo’s main objective behind firing outside Salman Khan’s residence in Galaxy Apartments in upscale Bandra on early Sunday morning was to create “terror”, a police official said, citing investigation conducted so far into the sensational incident.

During their custodial interrogation, the accused, Vicky Gupta (24) and Sagar Pal (21), told Mumbai Crime Branch officials that they had conducted a recce of Aprita Farms, Salman Khan’s sprawling farm house at Panvel, four days before opening fire outside his residence in Mumbai on April 14, he said.

The 58-year-old actor frequently visits the farmhouse, located around 60km from Mumbai, the official said.

As part of their evidence gathering exercise, police were examining CCTV cameras installed at the gate of the farm house and nearby areas. The duo, hailing from Bihar, had rented a house almost 10km away from the property in the Harigram area of Panvel, he said.

Both the accused, apprehended by a Mumbai Crime Branch team from Bhuj in Kutch district of adjoining Gujarat within 48 hours of the firing incident, have admitted to their involvement in the offence, said the official.

Police have received important information about the conspiracy angle in the episode and they were verifying details and corroborating them with evidence gathered so far, he said.

The weapon, a pistol, used in the firing was delivered to Gupta and Pal at their rented home by two persons almost 25 days before the incident, he said.

Prima facie it seems the primary aim of the firing was to create “terror” and that is why the duo, who were on a motorbike, chose early hours to execute their plan, noted the official.

Vicky Gupta and Pal had received payment in cash by their handlers for executing the task assigned to them, but their bank accounts were also being examined, he informed.

Pal, who had fired five rounds outside Salman Khan’s residence from a moving motorbike, had undergone training in firing at his native village in Bihar’s West Champaran district sometime after mid-March before arriving in Mumbai in the first week of April, said the official.

The Mumbai police have detained 19-year-old Sonu Gupta, younger brother of Vicky Gupta, from Chandigarh and his possible role in the crime is being investigated, he said.

Sonu Gupta is among various persons who are being questioned, the official said.

Vicky Gupta’s residence in West Champaran district has been searched by a Crime Branch team which also questioned his parents and another brother, he said.

Police were also making enquiries with Pal’s family members, the official said.

During investigation, it also came to light that a Facebook account with the name of Anmol Bishnoi, younger brother of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, was created from abroad three hours before the firing (which took place around 5am Indian time), he said.

A post claiming responsibility for the firing was uploaded on the same Facebook account, the official informed.

He said the IP (Internet Protocol) address of the post was traced to Portugal and it is suspected the message was uploaded using VPN (virtual private network), a tool which allows a user to remotely access a private network for purposes of privacy and security.

During interrogation, the police tried to find out how the duo came into contact with Anmol Bishnoi and joined his gang, the official said.

So far, Anmol Bishnoi has not been named as an accused in the case, but his prima facie role is visible in the crime, he said.

Vicky Gupta and Pal were arrested from a village in Kutch district on late Monday night and produced the next day before a Mumbai court which sent them to police custody till April 25.

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