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:

Anmol Bishnoi, the brother of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, has been added to the most-wanted list of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), sources said.

The anti-terror agency has also announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for the arrest of Anmol Bishnoi, who is wanted in connection with a shooting incident that occurred outside Bollywood actor Salman Khan’s Mumbai residence earlier this year.

Anmol, Lawrence Bishnoi – who is currently lodged in the Sabarmati central prison in Ahmedabad – and Canada-based gangster Goldie Brar were among the persons named as accused in the case related to the firing outside Mr Khan’s Bandra residence in Mumbai in April.

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The Navi Mumbai police had in this case arrested five Bishnoi gang members – Dhananjay alias Ajay Kashyap alias Nahvi, Gaurav Bhatia, Waspi Khan alias Wasim Chikna, Rizwan Khan alias Javed, and Deepak Hawa Singh alias John.

After the arrests, police in June also claimed to have uncovered a plot to target the actor on his way to his farmhouse near Panvel in Navi Mumbai.

The name of Anmol Bishnoi had also cropped up in the murder case of former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique. The 66-year-old NCP leader was shot dead by three persons in Mumbai, just outside his MLA son Zeeshan Siddique’s office, on October 12.

Anmol Bishnoi’s Speech To Shooters In Salman Khan House Firing

On the night of April 14, Mumbai’s Bandra neighbourhood was rocked by the sound of gunfire as two men on motorbikes fired multiple rounds outside Salman Khan’s residence.

A detailed chargesheet shed light on the events leading up to the attack on the actor’s house and revealed a long conversation between Anmol Bishnoi — who is reportedly operating from outside the country — and the shooters involved.

A 9-minute-long speech by Anmol Bishnoi was aimed at instilling courage in the shooters, Vicky Gupta and Sagar Pal, as they prepared to “script history” with their violent act.

ALSO READ | “Either Bullets Will Be Fired Or…”: Details In Salman Khan House Firing

According to the chargesheet, the plan was hatched over several months, from August 2023 to April 2024.

Investigations have revealed that the Bishnoi 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-politician Sidhu Moose Wala in May 2022.

According to the chargesheet, 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, which he often visited for film shoots.

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.)