Mumbai: Twelve teams of sleuths were formed to hunt down the two men who shot at actor Salman Khan’s house at Galaxy Apartments in Bandra two days ago. Caught in Bhuj in Gujarat on Tuesday, Vicky Gupta, 24, and Sagar Pal, 21, both from Champaran in Bihar, stopped their bike 100mt from Salman’s house and walked to see if any security personnel were around. The duo then walked back to their bike and came back riding to carry out the shooting. After the shooting, they abandoned their bike near Mount Mary church and travelled by an auto-rickshaw to Bandra railway station.
There they boarded a Borivali-bound local train, disembarking at Santacruz. From there, they walked to Vakola and took a car to Surat. Whether the car was rented out or owned by them is being investigated. There are several check posts on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway, but police personnel manning them did not suspect anything amiss. In Surat, they travelled by a state transport bus to Ahmedabad, then changed buses to reach Bhuj, where they stayed in a temple a few kilometres away.
A Mumbai crime branch team travelled to Bhuj
A Mumbai crime branch team travelled to Bhuj, seeking assistance from the local police due to the possibility of the accused possessing weapons and being in an unfamiliar area. The Bhuj crime branch formed four teams, leading to the apprehension of the accused. The two men were then handed over to the Mumbai crime branch. Additionally, the Bandra police team also travelled to Bhuj behind the crime branch.
Police officers Bharat Ghone and Arun Thorat’s teams conducted the operation under the guidance of seniors. Initially the Bandra police started the investigation, but given the gravity of the case, Commissioner of Police Vivek Phansalkar tasked the crime branch to take over the probe. Conspiracy charges were added later. Sources reveal that Pal had been working odd jobs in Haryana for two years, where he came into contact with the Bishnoi gang. Gupta also worked in Haryana and befriended Pal as both hailed from Champaran.
Battle Over Credit
The Mumbai crime branch announced at 1.45am on Tuesday that they had arrested two accused in connection with the shooting outside actor Salman Khan’s residence in Bandra. However, also on Tuesday, the Gujarat police asserted that they had made the initial arrest and subsequently handed over the accused to the Mumbai crime branch. Shortly afterwards, the Deputy Superintendent of Police of Bhuj held a media interaction, which garnered national media attention, and distributed a press release naming the accused. Additionally, the Bandra police asserted their involvement in the investigation and said its team had travelled to Bhuj behind the crime branch team. Meanwhile, on Monday, a team from the Delhi Special Cell began investigating the shooting incident and claimed to have identified one of the shooters. Sources also mentioned that the Navi Mumbai police laid claim to the investigation. Amidst these conflicting claims, special Commissioner of Mumbai Police, Deven Bharati, remarked, “Success has many fathers, failures have none."
