Salman Khan firing case: MCOCA invoked; 3 accused sent to police custody till May 8

Mumbai, April 29:  Two days after the police invoked the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), the three main accused in the firing case outside actor Salman Khan’s home were on Monday sent to police custody till May 8, while one was given judicial custody for health reasons.

Vicky Gupta (24), Sagal Pal (21), and Anuj Thapan (32) have been sent to police custody till May 8 as the investigators want to unravel the entire conspiracy behind the pre-dawn shooting outside Khan’s Bandra West home on April 14.

The fourth accused, Sonu Chander Bishnoi (37), was remanded to judicial custody on health grounds.

Last weekend, after the arrests of Sonu Bishnoi and Thapan, plus two others named as wanted accused, the Mumbai Police slapped the dreaded MCOCA besides the Indian Penal Code and Arms Act.

The two others are mafia don Lawrence Bishnoi, and his brother Anmol Bishnoi, who had claimed responsibility for the firing on April 14.

While Gupta and Pal are accused of firing five rounds at Khan’s Galaxy Apartments, Sonu Bishnoi and Thapan allegedly supplied them with two pistols and bullets.

The pistols and bullets were flung into Tapi River in Surat (Gujarat) by Gupta and Pal, who later fled to Kachchh district bordering Pakistan from where they were nabbed within 36 hours of the incident on April 16.

After nabbing Gupta and Pal, both from Bihar, the police also arrested Sonu Bishnoi and Thapan from Punjab on April 25 and brought them to Mumbai.

Anmol Bishnoi, who is now wanted in the case, is reportedly living in Canada, and keeps travelling to the US and other nations, while his brother Lawrence Bishnoi is currently jailed for various crimes.