The Mumbai police said it has arrested two persons suspected to be involved in the shooting outside actor Salman Khan's Bandra residence. The arrests were made on Tuesday from Bhuj in Gujarat.
The arrested men were identified as Vicky Gupta and Sagar Pal. They have been brought to the city. "Both the accused who fled Mumbai after the firing have been arrested from Gujarat's Bhuj," a Mumbai Police Crime Branch official told ANI.
The arrested men are both residents of Bihar. Deputy Inspector General of Kutch-West Mahendra Bagadiya told reporters that the men were nabbed late Monday night from Mata No Madh village in Gujarat's Kutch district. "Based on technical surveillance, joint teams of the Kutch-West and Mumbai police nabbed the duo," he said.
They were handed over to the Mumbai police as the complaint is registered there, Bagadiya said.
"A preliminary probe suggested that both Pal and Gupta were hired by the gang of incarcerated gangster Lawrence Bishnoi to open fire at Khan's house. While Pal did the firing, Gupta was in touch with the gang members," Bagadiya said.
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.
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.
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.
Though Salman has not reacted to the incident, his brother and actor Arbaaz Khan issued a statement, refusing earlier reports attributed to Salim Khan that the shooting was just a "publicity stunt".
"The recent incident of firing by two unidentified persons on a motorcycle at Galaxy apartment the residence of the Salim Khan family is very disturbing and unnerving. Our family has been taken aback by this shocking incident that took place.”
Meanwhile, Salman Khan was also seen leaving the apartment on Monday with heavy security, his first sighting after the incident. In a video that viral on the internet, Salman was seen leaving with police vans surrounding his car. Iulia Vantur was also spotted leaving Salman’s apartment.
