LUCKNOW: Delhi Police arrested two more shooters accused of being involved in a firing incident outside actress Disha Patani’s residence in Bareilly on Friday.
The accused, identified as Nakul Singh and Vijay Tomar – both from Baghpat, carried a bounty of Rs 1 lakh each. The Delhi Police recovered weapons from their possession. They were handed over to Bareilly Police on a B-Warrant.
According to Bareilly Police sources, Patani’s residence was attacked on both September 11 and 12. On the first day, Nakul and Vijay opened fire at 4:30 am while the actress’s family was asleep inside the house. Disha Patani was in Mumbai at the time. The next day, shooters Arun and Ravindra from Haryana attacked the residence again, firing multiple rounds.
In his FIR, Disha’s father Jagdish Patani, a retired cop, said the family was asleep when their dog started barking. On stepping out to the balcony, he saw two men on a bike. When confronted, one opened fire at him. He escaped by hiding behind a pillar. CCTV cameras later captured the shooters fleeing on motorcycles.
All four shooters were allegedly linked to the Rohit Godara and Goldie Brar gangs. After Arun and Ravindra were killed in an STF-led encounter in Ghaziabad on September 17, gangster Rohit Godara, through a Facebook post, threatened UP Police vowing revenge for the deaths of his men.
Police investigations revealed that the four shooters arrived in Bareilly on September 10, travelling on two bikes. They checked into nearby hotels under fake names. CCTV footage showed them at multiple spots, including the Jhumka intersection and guest houses close to Disha Patani’s house. Ravindra, identified as the main shooter, stayed under an alias at a local hotel before returning on September 12 to carry out the second round of firing with Arun.
After the two alleged gang shooters were killed in a joint operation by UP STF, Delhi Police and Haryana Police, Rohit Godara posted on Facebook, condemning the encounter and calling the dead “martyrs”.
In his post, he called the operation a “great loss,” accused the media of misreporting, and warned that those responsible would be made to pay for it. Promising retaliation, he posted that there would be no forgiveness.
The alleged motive for the attacks traces back to public statements by actress Disha Patani’s sister, Khushboo Patani, a former army officer, who criticised a religious storyteller identified as Aniruddhacharya for making derogatory remarks during a discourse. On July 30, Khushboo released a video condemning his comments about live-in relationships and women.