Anuj Thapan, an accused in the case of gunfire at Bollywood actor Salman Khan’s residence, passed away in a hospital after an attempted suicide while in police custody in Mumbai on Wednesday.
At 32 years old, Thapan took his own life in the lock-up’s restroom using a bedsheet. Upon being discovered, he was immediately taken to GT Hospital, where he succumbed to his actions during medical care, as per an official statement. The incident will be recorded as an accidental death at the Azad Maidan police station.
Background of Anuj Thapan
Thapan, along with Sonu Subhash Chander, was apprehended by Mumbai Police in Punjab. They were accused of providing firearms to Vicky Gupta and Sagar Pal, who had been detained for shooting multiple rounds of bullets outside Salman Khan’s Galaxy Apartments in Bandra on April 14.
Connections with Lawrence Bishnoi
The Mumbai Crime Branch has identified gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and his sibling Anmol Bishnoi as wanted individuals linked to the shooting incident. Anmol Bishnoi had admitted to the attack on Salman Khan’s dwelling in a social media post.
Investigators revealed that prior to the shooting, the assailants had visited Salman Khan’s residence multiple times and had monitored his farmhouse. Due to the actor’s absence from his farmhouse for an extended period, they decided to carry out the shooting outside his Galaxy Apartments.
The investigation team disclosed that they retrieved a pistol from a river on April 22 and found evidence of one of the shooters, Vicky Gupta, fleeing from Mumbai to Bhuj in Gujarat. It was reported that the gunmen disposed of the weapon in the Tapi River near Surat during their escape.
Mumbai Police have claimed that Thapan and Chander traveled to Panvel on March 15 to deliver two homemade pistols and ammunition to Sagar Pal and Vicky Gupta.
In addition to these four individuals, Lawrence Bishnoi and Anmol Bishnoi have been declared wanted in relation to the case.
Defense attorney Ajay Dubey argued in court that Chander and Thapan did not supply weapons or visit Panvel, and had no ties to the Bishnoi gang. He asserted that the allegations against them were unfounded and they were wrongfully implicated.
Gupta and Pal were captured in a village in Gujarat’s Kutch district on April 16. Later, the crime branch recovered two pistols, magazines, and bullets from the Tapi river in Gujarat as part of a search for the weapons used in the shooting.
Search for Anmol Bishnoi
Authorities have issued a lookout notice for Anmol Bishnoi. It has also been mentioned that police might seek custody of Lawrence Bishnoi, who is currently incarcerated in Gujarat, and are considering applying the stringent MCOCA to the case.
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