Salman Khan House Firing: Police Sources Reveal Shooters Were Promised Rs 4 Lakh As Supari

On April 14, two men on a motorcycle fired five rounds outside Salman Khan’s residence, Galaxy Apartments in Mumbai's Bandra. The two were later nabbed and were identified as Vicky Gupta, 24, and Sagar Kumar Palak, 21. Both of them are in police custody. On Wednesday night, another suspect involved in the Salman Khan firing case was arrested from Haryana. As per the police, the individual was a liaison between the Lawrence Bishnoi gang and the two shooters.

Reportedly, it was Sagar Kumar Palak, one of the two suspects, who was provided with a gun just hours before the incident, and it was sourced from the Bandra on April 13. However, the identity of the person who supplied the weapon has not been confirmed, police said. Both the accused are from West Champaran in Bihar, and they were detained by Mumbai Police from a temple in Gujarat's Kutch district late Monday night. 

According to police sources, both Palak and Vicky Gupta were allegedly paid Rs 4 lakh to carry out the shooting, and an initial payment of Rs 1 lakh was provided upfront. The intended objective, as confirmed by the Mumbai Crime Branch officials, was not to murder Salman Khan, but to scare him.

"The accused conducted a 'recce' of Salman Khan's farmhouse in Panvel. They intended to just scare him, not murder him. The statements of both families have been recorded in Bihar. Around 7 people have been called from Haryana and other states for questioning, which is ongoing," news agency ANI quoted a Mumbai Crime Branch official as saying. For now, the Mumbai Crime Branch is expected to record the statement of Salman Khan as a witness in the case. 

Recently, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde met with Salman and assured him all help, with a promise of increased security. "The government is with you, I have told Salman Khan. Both the accused have been arrested. They will be interrogated. We will get to the root of the case. Nobody will be spared. Nobody should be targeted this way," Eknath Shinde told reporters, adding, "No gang or gang war will be allowed. We won't allow this to happen. We will finish (Lawrence) Bishnoi.”

Last year, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) stated that Salman Khan was on the the list of 10 main targets that jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi planned to eliminate.