Mumbai: The fifth accused, Mohammad Rafiq Chaudhary, arrested in the firing case outside Salman Khan's house, had also done recce outside the homes of two other actors besides Salman Khan's house. Crime branch officials are verifying this.
According to information obtained from the Crime Branch, Chaudhary was in Mumbai from April 7th to April 13th, and during this time, he recce Salman Khan's house and also made a video there. A police officer stated that after making the video of Khan's house, Chaudhary sent that video to Anmol Bisnoi. The police are investigating whether there is any truth to the talk of recce the houses of two other actors and sending videos to Bisnoi.
A police officer stated that Chaudhary had been living in Mumbai for several years, so it was certain that Mumbai Police could catch him, and for this reason, he had deleted the data from his mobile.
Accused Mohammad Rafiq Chaudhary was presented in the court by Mumbai Crime Branch on Monday and it was told that Rafiq Chaudhary knows Rohit Godara. He met both the shooters on the instructions of Anmol Bishnoi with reference from Godara. A member of Bishnoi gang had given money to Chaudhary which he gave to both the shooters.
The Crime Branch is looking for an accused named Ankit in this case who was handling this entire operation on the instructions of Anmol Bishnoi. Ankit had sent Pal and Gupta to live in Panvel in October 2023, but during that time both of them could not find a house to rent, so both of them went back. They were not told for what purpose Pal and Gupta were sent to Mumbai.
A police officer revealed that in March, Ankit sent these two shooters back to Mumbai and instructed them to rent a house with the help of an autorickshaw driver. Upon Ankit's instructions, both of them rented a house with the help of an autorickshaw driver. After getting the house on rent, Ankit told them to buy a bike. When they bought the bike, they were provided with weapons and were told that they had to fire outside Salman Khan's house.
Pal and Gupta were apprehensive about carrying out the order to shoot outside Salman Khan's house until Bishnoi reassured them that they would gain virtue by completing the task. A police officer said that Pal and Gupta were first sent to Mumbai on the pretext that there was a big job. During this time, they were asked to roam around Mumbai. During this time, the Bishnoi gang provided Gupta and Pal with about Rs 5 lakh.
The Crime Branch has recorded the statement of Sonu Gupta, brother of shooter Vicky Gupta, in the Magistrate Court under CrPC 164. The police officer said that Gupta had sent the voice recording of the conversation between Vicky Gupta and Anmol Bishnoi to Sonu in which he had said that keep this voice clip safe as if no help is received after the incident, then this voice clip will be useful.
In this case, the first two shooters arrested, Sagar Pal and Vicky Gupta, have been sent to judicial custody by the MCOCA court. The Mumbai Crime Branch had demanded police custody, but the court has sent both to judicial custody. Meanwhile, according to the defense lawyer, accused Sagar Pal has demanded to talk to his mother. The lawyer also claimed that there is an atmosphere of fear between the two since Anuj Thapar's suicide.
On the morning of April 14, two individuals fired shots outside Salman Khan's Galaxy Apartment in Bandra, Mumbai. Salman Khan resides in this apartment. The accused in this case is gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, who is currently imprisoned in Sabarmati Jail, Gujarat. Additionally, his younger brother Anmol Bishnoi is also being implicated in the case. According to sources, Anmol is currently in the United States or Canada. Anmol had taken responsibility for the shooting incident through a social media post. However, the police claim that his IP address traces back to Portugal.
