Attackers switched target after seeing tight security at Galaxy and picked Tiger

Photo: Collected

Mumbai police have brought new information to light in the recent shooting that targeted Bollywood actor Tiger Shroff. Investigators claim the attackers’ main target was actor Salman Khan; but on seeing the tight security arrangements outside his home, they changed their plan and targeted Tiger. Police have said the attack was planned on the instructions of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi’s gang, and that the main purpose of the attack was to create panic.

Reports by NDTV and The Wall said this information emerged during the interrogation of those arrested over the shooting, which has given the investigation a new turn. Earlier, the Lawrence Bishnoi gang had claimed responsibility for the attack.

According to the police account, the attackers first kept watch on Salman Khan’s home at Galaxy Apartment. Seeing the heavy police presence there, they backed away from the plan to kill him, and were then instructed to target some other Bollywood star with comparatively less security. In the end, Tiger Shroff, son of actor Jackie Shroff, was targeted.

Salman Khan’s security has been increased several times over since the incident. Along with Mumbai police, special commandos have been deployed for his protection, and the security personnel have been given state-of-the-art submachine guns – among them the MP5 SD6 model made by the German arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch.

Investigators believe that besides Salman, the attackers had earlier kept watch on the homes of several stars including Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar and Aamir Khan; their plan was to pick stars with comparatively less security as easy targets. Police also claim the accused had a deal of Rs 150,000 for planning the attack.

According to police information, two men opened fire on Tiger Shroff’s car as it was leaving after a football match at the Pushpa Narsi Ground in Juhu, Mumbai, on Sunday. The actor’s driver and an auto-rickshaw driver who was beside the car were injured in the shooting.

A third accomplice was waiting some distance away on a motorcycle. After firing seven rounds at Tiger, the three fled on the same motorcycle and later abandoned it near Andheri West railway station before boarding a train to Jaipur.

Police arrested three men within 24 hours of the incident. They are Rehan Rahisuddin, 18, and Phool Singh, 18, residents of Sonipat in Haryana, and Hritik Mahto, 22, a resident of Begusarai in Bihar. Police claim that during interrogation they said they had come to Mumbai with the aim of killing another influential person.

Another man named Sameer was then arrested from Sonipat in Haryana. Separately, the special cell of Delhi police has arrested four members of an active network linked to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang; police claim this ring had supplied the weapons to those who fired at Tiger’s car.

The four arrested are Kunal, Sumit, Radha and Babita, aged between 19 and 23 years. Kunal and Sumit are residents of Sonipat district in Haryana, while Radha and Babita are from Uttar Pradesh.

Sources said Radha and Babita took the weapons used in the attack from Uttar Pradesh to Mumbai and handed them to the accused there on Kunal’s instructions. The special cell of Delhi police later handed the four arrested over to Mumbai police. Investigators believe that with these arrests the ring involved in supplying the weapons used in the attack has been traced. In all, seven people have been arrested over the incident.

The investigation found that, posing as tourists, the attackers moved around various areas of Mumbai by auto-rickshaw and motorcycle for about 20 days, staying at four or five hotels in Andheri East during this time. Police believe they changed their lodgings repeatedly to avoid surveillance.

After keeping watch on Salman Khan’s home, the attackers realised that reaching him would be difficult because of the tight security arrangements. They then decided to target Tiger Shroff after monitoring his activities on social media. Police claim his social media posts were followed to gather information on his movements.

Background

The Bishnoi gang’s feud with Salman Khan began over the 1998 blackbuck poaching case, which took place during the shooting of the film ‘Hum Saath Saath Hain’ in Rajasthan; the Bishnoi community considers the blackbuck sacred, and Lawrence Bishnoi has repeatedly referred to that religious significance – The Week reported this on 19 October.

Earlier, at about 5:30am on 14 April 2024, two helmeted men who arrived on a motorcycle fired at least four rounds outside Salman Khan’s Galaxy Apartment in Bandra, Mumbai, according to local residents – ETV Bharat reported this on 14 April 2024. Officers of the Mumbai police crime branch later went to Galaxy Apartment and recorded the statements of Salman and Arbaaz Khan – Deccan Herald, citing PTI, gave this information on 12 June 2024.

Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala was killed in Mansa district on 29 May 2022, just a day after his security was withdrawn; Delhi police named Lawrence Bishnoi, who was then in Tihar jail in the custody of Delhi police, as the main planner of that killing – The Tribune reported this on 9 June 2022.

Accounts of the day of the incident differ between sources. A Brut India report of 19 October said the shooting took place near Pushpa Narsi Park in Juhu at about 7:00pm on Sunday, 18 October, that Tiger Shroff was not hit and that three people were arrested in a joint operation in Kota, Rajasthan; The Week’s report of 18 October said three rounds were fired at the car.