Mumbai: One of the accused in the case of firing outside Bollywood actor Salman Khan's house in Mumbai last month died by suicide in police custody, officials said.
Anuj Thapan, 32, tried to end his life in the lock-up of Mumbai Police's crime branch, they said. He was rushed to the nearby Gokuldas Tejpal Hospital adjacent to the Police Commissionerate where he succumbed, a Mumbai police official said. An accidental death report will be registered at Azad Maidan police station in south Mumbai.
The incident came to light at 1 pm when a crime branch official noticed that Thapan was in the toilet for a long time. When the door was forced open, he was found hanging from the toilet's window, the official said. He was rushed to GT hospital where he was declared dead during treatment, the official said.
There were five other accused in the lock-up at the time of the incident.
Two co-accused of Thapan in the firing case had been taken out for investigation, the official said. Accused Vicky Gupta (24), Sagar Pal (21) and Anuj Thapan were remanded in police custody till May 8 by a special MCOCA (Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act) court.
The 4th accused Sonukumar Bishnoi (37) was sent to judicial custody on medical grounds. Thapan and Bishnoi had allegedly supplied two pistols to Sagar Pal and Vicky Gupta to carry out the firing.
Two people shot four rounds outside the Galaxy Apartments in Mumbai's Bandra, where Salman Khan lives, early on April 14. Police then apprehended both shooters, Vicky Gupta and Sagar Pal from Gujarat, as well gun suppliers, Sonukumar Bishnoi and Anuj Thapan from Punjab. The city police's crime branch brought Gupta, Pal, and Thapan before a court on Monday, and they were detained in police custody until May 8.
Lawrence Bishnoi, who is in the Sabarmati Central Prison in Ahmedabad, and his younger brother Anmol, who is thought to be in the United States or Canada, are wanted in the case. Anmol claimed responsibility for the shooting in a Facebook post, but its IP address was linked to Portugal, authorities said earlier.
Because Lawrence Bishnoi's organised crime syndicate operates on a global scale, authorities were looking into whether it received any assistance from anti-national elements outside India, such as the provision of weaponry or finances, according to the police's remand plea. According to an official, police were also looking into the source of the weapons used by the alleged shooters in this case
Investigators suspect the Bishnoi gang intended to sow fear in Mumbai, the country's financial hub, and are looking into whether gang members attempted to extort money from businesspeople, film actors, and builders in the city, he added.
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