In a major development in the firing incident outside actor Salman Khan’s home in Bandra, the Mumbai Police Crime Branch on Tuesday said it has arrested two accused from Gujarat’s Bhuj.
According to the Crime Branch Sources, the names of the two arrested accused are Vicky Gupta (24) and Sagar Pal (21). “Both the accused shooters are from Bihar’s West Champaran. Cases like theft, chain snatching are already registered against them,” they added.
Earlier, the Mumbai Police had released the pictures and CCTV footage of the two suspects who opened fire outside the residence of the actor on Sunday.
The shooting happened in the early hours of Sunday after motorcycle-borne shooters had opened fire outside Galaxy Apartments, Khan’s residence. Police said the suspects had their faces covered and the incident was a meticulously planned one. A total of four rounds were fired by the accused and a live cartridge was recovered from the spot.
The probe also found that the accused were last spotted at Mira Road around 6.15am, nearly an hour after the attack, following which they went off the police radar. The branch had sent teams to Rajasthan, Delhi and Bihar for further investigation.
Meanwhile, the police official investigating the incident said on Monday that the IP (Internet Protocol) address of the Facebook post claiming responsibility for the firing has been traced to Portugal. Jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi’s brother Anmol Bishnoi had claimed responsibility for the firing, calling it the “first and last warning”.
Police suspect a VPN (virtual private network) was used for uploading the Facebook post. A VPN establishes a digital connection between a computer and a remote server owned by a VPN provider, creating a point-to-point tunnel that encrypts personal data, masks IP addresses, and allows the user to sidestep website blocks and firewalls on the Internet.
“The IP address of the FB post was traced to Portugal. We are verifying,” the officer added. Meanwhile, the family members of the actor have raised their concerns over the security provided to Khan. What particularly scared the family was that one of the four bullets was lodged in the balcony of the flat where the actor, who enjoys Y-plus security, resides. The actor was sleeping at his residence when the firing took place.
In the wake of the shooting, the Mumbai Police has enhanced security at the Galaxy Apartment. “The actor has Y+ category security cover, but after the firing, the number of police personnel guarding him has been increased,” an officer told reporters.
