In a major development, the Mumbai Crime Branch, on Tuesday, May 7, arrested a fifth accused in connection with the firing outside Bollywood actor Salman Khan's house in Bandra on April 14. The accused, identified as Mohammad Chaudhary, was arrested in Rajasthan.
Chaudhary is being brought to Mumbai today, where officials stated he will be produced in court, and a demand for custody will be made. Choudhary provided financial assistance for the alleged shooters, Sagar Pal and Vicky Gupta, reported ANI, quoting the Mumbai Crime branch officials.
The firing incident occurred on April 14, when two motorbike-borne shooters opened fire outside The Galaxy apartments, Salman Khan's residence in Bandra.
Following the incident, four persons – Anuj Thapan, Sonu Bishnoi, alleged shooters Sagar Pal and Vicky Gupta – were arrested.
Thapan and Sonu Kumar Bishnoi (32) were held from Fazilka in Punjab on April 26. The two had allegedly supplied weapons for the shooting at Salman Khan's residence.
However, on May 1, accused Anuj Thapan died by suicide, allegedly hanging himself with a bedsheet in the toilet of the first-floor lock-up inside the police commissioner's office compound in south Mumbai.
When Thapan did not come out of the toilet after being inside for a long time, cops forced the door and found him hanging. He was rushed to state-run Gokuldas Tejpal Hospital, where he was declared dead.
Following Thapan's death, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Anand Dubey raised suspicions of foul play, questioning the involvement of some politicians or high-ranking officers.
“There are CCTV cameras, there are so many officers...This is a big conspiracy,” Dubey claimed.
Meanwhile, the Thapan's family has moved the Bombay High Court seeking a CBI probe into his death.
In her petition, his mother, Rita Devi, alleged foul play and claimed he was killed.
The petition alleged Thapan was physically assaulted and tortured by police in custody, reported PTI.
The petitioner has also requested the preservation of call data records (CDR) of police officials probing the firing incident from April 24 to May 2.
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