Mumbai: Vicky Gupta, the man who opened fire outside Bollywood actor Salman Khan’s house, has claimed that gangster Lawrence Bishnoi had no role to play in the case.
Two motorcycle-borne men fired five rounds outside Khan’s Galaxy Apartment in Bandra in the early hours of April 14. The attack is said to have been carried out by the Bishnoi gang. During the investigation, the man who opened fire was identified as Vicky Kumar Gupta.
The Mumbai Police Crime Branch has so far arrested six people – Gupta, Sagarkumar Pal, Sonukumar Bishnoi, Anujkumar Thapan, Mohd Rafiq Choudhary and Harpal Singh – in connection with the firing. Thapan died by suicide, hence the case against him has been abated.
Gupta has moved a bail plea before the special court claiming that “he was actually influenced by the character of Lawrence Bishnoi from the electronic, print and social media, and was magnetically attached to the principles followed by Lawrence Bishnoi, as Mr Lawrence Bishnoi was an ardent follower of [freedom fighter] Bhagat Singh”.
He claimed that Bishnoi has been dragged in the case unnecessarily. “It is apparent on the face of record, that the applicant did not received any call from Lawrence Bishnoi nor any middleman had instigated the applicant to talk with Lawrence Bishnoi, as he is wrongly inducted in the present case, and does not have any role to play in the present matter,” Gupta said.
Further, Gupta goes on to say, “Unnecessarily and without any cause of action, Lawrence Bishoni is getting entangled by the prosecution, for reasons best known to them.”
Besides, Gupta in his bail plea claimed that he has no antecedents and is no threat to society. “Applicant belongs to poor background, and lives in remotest village of Bihar, which does not have appropriate civil infrastructure. He was in debt, which impelled to him to commit the crime. His father is working as a labourer and mother is working in farming field. He is married and having wife and two children,” read the bail plea.
Gupta claimed that he was not aware about the said conspiracy till the day before the alleged attack was carried out. He claimed that he had contacted Pal, a native of his village, for a job and he had allegedly connected him to the Bishnoi gang.
“He was working as a labour in Tamil Nadu, and owing to Covid-19 pandemic, he lost his job. Therefore, he was having no other alternatives, but to contact Pal,” Gupta claimed adding that Pal promised him to get a job of a driver in Jalandhar. However, when he visited Jalandhar, Pal asked him to go to Mumbai.
“The Accused No 2 [Pal] informed the applicant that we have to visit to the city of Mumbai, for one auspicious religious mission to accomplish the same, and as the applicant to feed his family was in dire need of money, and the applicant was having no other alternatives, but to visit the city of Mumbai,” read the bail plea.
Gupta claimed that a night before the alleged attack, he had received call from Anmol Bishnoi, brother of Lawrence.
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