MUMBAI: A Mumbai court on Wednesday remanded three accused in the firing incident involving Bollywood actor Tiger Shroff to police custody till October 31. With five more arrests reported by the Mumbai Police, the total number of people arrested in the case has risen to 10.
The three accused, Rehan alias Sukka, from Sonipat in Haryana; Ritik Kurmi alias Roshan, originally from Begusarai in Bihar and residing in Mumbai; and Phool Singh, from Haryana, were brought to Mumbai from Kota, Rajasthan, early Wednesday and produced before the Kila court.
The crime branch, which is investigating the case, had sought 14 days of police custody, citing the need to recover the weapons allegedly used in the attack and two mobile phones that the accused reportedly destroyed. Police told the court that the recoveries were necessary to establish the motive and uncover the alleged conspiracy.
Defence lawyers Ajinkya Mirgal and Satyabrat Joshi opposed the plea, arguing that custody was unnecessary for recovering the weapons and that the accused had already been interrogated during transit remand. After hearing both sides, the court remanded them to police custody until October 31.
Meanwhile, police arrested five more people, four in Delhi and one in Haryana, and said they were being brought to Mumbai for production before a court on Thursday. The 10 arrested so far include two women.
According to police, the 10th accused allegedly helped the first three suspects arrange weapons on the instructions of gangster Anil Pandit, who is said to be associated with gangster Lawrence Bishnoi. The accused are suspected of supplying a pistol and ammunition to the shooters.
Investigators are also probing an alleged arms supply network and reconnaissance linked to the attack. One accused, Ankit Rajesh Khatak, allegedly stayed in Mumbai for around 20 days and conducted reconnaissance with the shooters. He was also reportedly in contact with higher-level links in the network through an encrypted messaging application.
The firing took place in Mumbai’s Juhu area on October 18, when three men on a motorcycle allegedly opened fire at Shroff’s car. The actor was unhurt, but his driver and a passer-by sustained injuries. Police have registered a case under provisions relating to attempted murder and the Arms Act.