Mumbai Police arrested three more people from Haryana’s Sonipat district on Wednesday in connection with the October 18 firing at actor Tiger Shroff ’s car, taking the total number of arrests to 10, even as investigators found that the alleged shooters had conducted reconnaissance at the homes of A-list actors, before targeting Shroff.
Interrogation has revealed that Shroff was allegedly not the gang’s original target, according to police. The three accused were identified through CCTV footage and tracking of the motorcycle allegedly used in the shooting. The shooters had surveyed Salman Khan ’s Bandra (West) residence, Aamir Khan ’s home in Khar and Ranbir Kapoor’s residence in Mumbai. Their alleged accomplice, Hritik Kumar alias Roshan Ramu Mahto, is originally from Bihar and was living in Mumbai. The women were arrested at New Delhi railway station, while the two men were apprehended in Haryana.
They have been remanded in police custody till October 31, they said. The two alleged shooters, Phool Singh and Rehan Ansari, both 18 and from Sonipat, had stayed in Mumbai for a month before the firing, police said. They stayed at lodges in Dadar and spent around ₹ 2 lakh, including on the Bajaj Pulsar motorcycle allegedly used in the attack, they added. They were identified as Kunal Sanjay, 21, and Sumit Soraliya, 19, both from Sonipat, and Radha Verma, 23, and Babita Rao, 23, originally from Uttar Pradesh .
Police said the three newly arrested accused, including Sameer, Jatin and Ankit, allegedly helped plan the attack and arrange weapons and logistical support for the shooters. The crime branch of Mumbai Police told the court that the attack was allegedly carried out at the behest of Anil Pandit, a suspected operative of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. Police said they needed to recover the weapons, establish the motive and collect electronic evidence, including call records. Two mobile phones had been destroyed, police told the court. The actors, except Ranbir Kapoor, had received threats from the Bishnoi gang earlier, police officers requesting anonymity said.
Earlier on Wednesday, three key accused, including Phool Singh, Rehan Ansari and Hritik Kumar alias Roshan Ramu Mahto, were brought to Mumbai from Kota in Rajasthan and were produced before a magistrate court, officials aware of the matter said. Delhi Police’s Special Cell arrested four people on Tuesday for allegedly supplying weapons to the shooters and helping them.
Because he had less security cover than the other actors, whose homes were considered difficult to breach, the officers added, shroff was allegedly chosen.
