Bollywood actor Salman Khan | Photo credit: ANI
The accused involved in an alleged conspiracy to murder Bollywood actor Salman Khan had planned to attack him during the shooting of a film, a police officer said on Tuesday, citing the chargesheet filed in the case.
He said that during the investigation of the case, it was revealed that jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi had given a contract of Rs 25 lakh to his gang members to attack the actor.
The officer said the gang had planned to use sophisticated weapons, including AK-47s brought from Pakistan, for the attack.
The Panvel Town police in Navi Mumbai filed a 350-page chargesheet in a magistrate court on June 21 against the five arrested accused — Dhananjay Tapping alias Ajay Kashyap (28), Gautam Bhatia (29), Waspi Mahmood Khan alias China (36), Rizwan Hussain alias Javed Khan (25) and Deepak Hawasing alias John (30), he said.
Jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, his brother Anmol Bishnoi, Sampat Nehra and Goldy Brar have been made wanted accused in the case, the official said.
The attack was allegedly planned to take place during the shooting of a film or when the actor was leaving his farmhouse in Panvel, the official said.
He said the chargesheet gives a detailed account of the conspiracy, attack and escape route. It includes intelligence gathered, mobile phone records of the accused, analysis of their WhatsApp chats, audio and video calls and tower locations.
He said that in April, the Panvel Town Police had busted an alleged plot to murder the actor by members of the Bishnoi gang.
During the investigation, a video call conversation between Ajay Kashyap, a member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, and another accused revealed the conspiracy.
According to the conversation, on the orders of Goldy Brar, sharpshooters trained in modern weapons were deployed in Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Pune, Raigad and Gujarat.
Citing a First Information Report (FIR), officials had said last month that sharpshooters Anmol Bishnoi and Rohit Godara were instructed by Brar to carry out the attack and minors below the age of 18 were used for the task.
According to the FIR, a man named John was allegedly assigned the task of providing vehicles for the operation.
After the attack, the gang members were to regroup in Kanyakumari and then travel to Sri Lanka by sea. From there, they were to be sent to other countries, with Canada-based gangster Anmol Bishnoi arranging their travel, officials said.
According to the police, the Lawrence Bishnoi and Sampat Nehra gang had deployed 60 to 70 members to keep an eye on the movements of Salman Khan and to scout his Bandra residence, Panvel farmhouse and film shooting locations.
A case was registered against 17 accused and others at the Panvel Town police station on April 24 after receiving specific information about a conspiracy to murder Khan.
The police found a video call between accused Ajay Kashyap and a person named Dogar who lives in Pakistan. According to the FIR, the call was initiated by Kashyap in the presence of a member who later became a police informer.
Kashyap allegedly discussed buying weapons, including AK-47s, from Pakistan after depositing 50 per cent of the amount in the account of gangster Goldy Brar. The remaining amount could be paid after receiving the weapons.
During the video call, Dogra showed 4 to 5 weapons to Kashyap, including AK-47 and others.
