After a long search, the 12-member team of the Mumbai Crime Branch recovered a firearm – allegedly used for firing outside Salman Khan’s home earlier this month – from Tapi river in Surat.
Senior police inspector Daya Nayak also travelled to Surat for the search operation. Apart from police officers from Surat, local divers and fishermen helped the team in the extensive operation.
Vicky Gupta (24) and Sagar Pal (21), the two accused arrested last week from a temple in Bhuj for allegedly firing outside the actor’s house at the Galaxy Apartment in Bandra area of Mumbai, had reportedly carried two weapons to commit the crime.
Both shooters were instructed to open fire at Khan’s residence; however, only one of them managed to open fire. The incident took place in the early hours on April 14. The two accused claimed that they boarded a Bhuj-bound train and while passing the river, they threw the two weapons from the train.
A Surat police officer said the search operation began at 9 am, and one of the two firearms was recovered in the afternoon.
In the firing incident, as per the preliminary investigation, officials in Mumbai have learnt that the accused allegedly committed the crime on the instruction of gangsters Lawrence Bishnoi and his younger brother Anmol. The two brothers have been named as “wanted accused” in the case. “It appears that they wanted to scare the actor and create a terror in the environment that would have helped them in extorting money at least from others,” an officer said.
The Mumbai Crime Branch will soon take custody of Lawrence Bishnoi for questioning. “We are collecting evidence for now and as soon as we have sufficient evidence, we will seek his custody,” an officer added. Bishnoi is currently lodged in Sabarmati Central Jail in Gujarat while Anmol is believed to be either in the United States or Portugal.
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