Shooters Targeting Tiger Shroff Visited Residences of Aamir Khan, Salman Khan and Ranveer Singh: Police

The three shooters who travelled to Mumbai to carry out an attack on actor Tiger Shroff had visited residential buildings where actors Aamir Khan, Salman Khan and Ranveer Singh live during their month-long stay in the city, police investigating the case have found.

Investigators are examining whether the gang specifically instructed the shooters to target these celebrities or whether they visited the locations out of curiosity.

“We have found they had visited the buildings where several celebrities resided. Actor Aamir Khan resides some distance from Tiger’s residence. So, at this point, we are not sure if they were given specific targets or if they visited these places out of curiosity. Details will emerge during their questioning. As of now, we have heightened security outside the residences of some of these actors,” a source said.

All three actors have received threats in the past.

Meanwhile, Mumbai Crime Branch Deputy Commissioner of Police Raj Tilak Roushan said at a press conference on Wednesday that eight people had been arrested in connection with the case. Two others, identified as Jatin and Sameer, have been detained in Haryana and will be formally arrested once a court approves the police’s transit remand application, taking the total number of arrests to 10.

According to Roushan, three accused, including two alleged shooters, were arrested in Kota, four were apprehended by Delhi Police, and an 18-year-old accused, Ankit alias Rajesh Khatak, was arrested in Haryana. Police have also detained Jatin and Sameer and sought their transit remand.

Five Accused Linked to Firearm Delivery

The four accused arrested in Delhi were identified as Kunal Sanjay, 21; Sumit Suraha, 19; Radha Verma, 29; and Babita Rao, 24.

Police allege that Kunal, Sumit and Jatin were involved in collecting a firearm from Amritsar using a method known as a “dead drop”. Under this arrangement, one group leaves a weapon at a designated location for another group to collect, helping prevent the arrest of one group from exposing the other.

After collecting the firearm in Amritsar, the trio travelled to Delhi, where Kunal allegedly handed it over to Radha and Babita. The two women reportedly stayed in the city last week before handing the weapon to the shooters without disclosing their identities. They subsequently returned to Delhi.

“The five were linked to the weapon delivery and have been picked up,” an officer said.

Ankit Allegedly Helped With Reconnaissance and Money Transfers

Investigators also found that Ankit alias Rajesh Khatak had accompanied the shooters in Mumbai, helped them conduct reconnaissance of locations and facilitated the transfer of money from Anil Pandit to the alleged shooters.

Police suspect that nearly Rs 2 lakh was transferred to the shooters.

“Ankit, however, returned to Haryana once the recce was done,” an officer said.

Another investigating officer said Sameer acted as the link between one of the alleged shooters, Rehan Ansari, and Anil Pandit. Rehan was allegedly brought into the plan to carry out the firing through Sameer.

The accused arrested in Kota were produced before a Mumbai court, while those arrested in Delhi were scheduled to be produced before a local court on Thursday, the officer added.