BHOPAL: A 22-year-old man from Haryana has been taken into custody by the Mumbai Police Crime Branch from Madhya Pradesh’s commercial capital Indore, in connection with the high-profile case of October 18 firing on Bollywood actor Tiger Shroff’s car.
“Hailing from Sonipat (Haryana), Pranjal Thakran was taken into custody from Pardeshipura area of Indore on Saturday, in a joint operation by Mumbai and Indore Police Crime Branches,” Indore’s additional DCP-Crime Indore, Rajesh Dandotiya, said.
“On Friday night, the Mumbai Crime Branch informed us about the presence of one of the suspects in the October 18 firing case, in Indore. Subsequently, Pranjal Thakran was taken into custody from Pardeshipura police station area of Indore in a Mumbai-Indore Police Crime Branches joint operation on Saturday,” he added.
Primary investigation revealed that Pranjal was in Indore since last five days for the medical treatment of his brother.
Importantly, the Pardeshipura area has historically carried a reputation of being one of the more crime-prone industrial and residential localities of Indore.
According to a senior police officer who has been posted in the past in that area, the concerned locality has often served as hideouts for operatives of inter-state gangs, including the notorious Sudhir Singh Bhadoriya gang of Agra (UP).
With the area being the hotbed of local gangsters like Satish Bhau, Sudhakar Rao Maratha and Yuvraj Ustad in the past, Pardeshipura has been considered safe hideout for criminals on the run from other states.
While the ADCP-Indore Crime, Rajesh Dandotiya said the role of 22-year-old Pranjal Thakran in Tiger Shroff firing case can only be divulged by the Mumbai Police Crime Branch, sources privy to the ongoing investigation confided to the TNIE that the Sonipat resident was the crucial link between the high-profile case’s alleged mastermind, gangster Anil Pandit and the shooters hired for the October 18 firing on Tiger Shroff’s car.
“He used a social media app (used often by the Lawrence Bishnoi gang operatives) to connect the shooters with Anil Pandit,” a key source forming part of the ongoing Mumbai Police probe told this newspaper.
With Pranjal being taken into custody from Indore, out of the 11 persons, including two women taken into custody so far in the high-profile case, 6-7 hail from Sonipat (Haryana).
It’s still not clear whether any previous criminal case is pending against Pranjal in Haryana or not.