‘Your Faces Are Out, Flee’: How TV News Updates Helped Guide Shooters in Tiger Shroff Case

The shooters accused of firing at actor Tiger Shroff’s car in Mumbai’s Juhu area on October 18 allegedly received real-time updates on the police investigation through handlers monitoring television news coverage. According to police sources, one suspect was warned to flee after footage revealing their faces was broadcast.

Shroff escaped unhurt, though his driver and a vlogger were injured. The three accused — Phool Singh, 18, Rehan Rahisuddin Ansari, 18, and Rithik Mahto, 22 — were arrested in Rajasthan the following day and remanded in police custody until October 31.

Investigators suspect the shooters’ handlers used an internet-based calling app to relay information about the investigation, including reports that police had traced their motorcycle in Andheri and discovered they had travelled by train. Police have yet to establish who provided the updates, with Anil Pandit, an alleged Lawrence Bishnoi gang associate, and two recently arrested suspects, Ankit Khatak and Sameer Khatri, among those being investigated for possible links.

According to police sources, the accused relied largely on Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calls, which do not appear in conventional mobile call records. A regular phone call to a cab driver who transported them from Borivali to Surat eventually helped investigators trace their movements. The Mumbai Police, acting on intelligence, coordinated with Kota Police to apprehend the suspects aboard a train.