Just wanted to threaten Salman, says accused who fired at actor’s Bandra home

MUMBAI: The firing at actor Salman Khan’s apartment in Bandra on April 14 was not intended to cause any harm. Instead, the assailants wanted to threaten Khan for not tendering an apology after killing a blackbuck, which is worshiped by the Bishnoi community in Rajasthan, said accused Vicky Kumar Gupta in his bail plea filed on Monday in the special MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act) court.
The firing was allegedly orchestrated by the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, supervised by the gangster’s Canada-based brother Anmol Bishnoi, and executed by Gupta and fellow accused Sagar Kumar Pal.
In his bail plea filed through advocates Amit Mishra and Susheel Mishra, Gupta claimed that he is a victim of circumstances. He said that when he lost his job as a labourer in Tamil Nadu during the Covid-19 pandemic, he contacted Pal, who hails from his native place, for help. Pal sent him to Jalandhar in Punjab to work as a driver, but after reaching there, Gupta was told that he would have to visit Mumbai on an “auspicious religious mission”.
It was only after he reached Mumbai that Anmol Bishnoi called him and informed him of the plan to fire a few rounds at Salman Khan’s apartment, he stated in his bail plea. He said he committed the crime because Anmol Bishnoi gave him “confidence that nothing will happen to him (to Gupta)” and in any case his role was limited to riding the bike and ferrying Pal to Bandra; it was Pal who fired the rounds at Khan’s house, he said.
Gupta added that he is the sole breadwinner in his family comprising his elderly mother, wife and two children and since the trial would take a long time to start, he should be released on bail.
Special judge BD Shelke directed the Mumbai police crime branch to reply to the bail application and posted the matter for hearing on August 13.
In the 1,735-page chargesheet filed by the police before the special MCOCA court, the police have named nine people including Gupta, Pal and Anmol Bishnoi. The arrested accused in the case include Gupta, Sagarkumar Pal, Sonukumar Bishnoi, Mohd Rafiq Choudhary, and Harpal Singh and Anujkumar Thapan. While Thapan purportedly died by suicide while in police custody, the remaining accused are currently in judicial custody.