Salman Khan firing case: Cops request home ministry to issue LOC against Anmol Bishnoi

Cops and divers during the search for the guns used to shoot at Salman Khan’s residence, in Surat, Gujarat. File pic/PTI

The Mumbai Crime Branch has sent a letter to the home ministry requesting that a look-out circular (LOC) be issued against Anmol Bishnoi - the brother of Laurence Bishnoi - who claimed responsibility for the firing incident at actor Salman Khan's residence earlier this month.

On Wednesday, an Intelligence Bureau (IB) team also visited Crime Branch Unit-9 and initiated an investigation into underworld links.

The Crime Branch is also seeking custody of Lawrence Bishnoi, who is lodged in Sabarmati Central Jail in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. The team discovered that the firing was planned inside Sabarmati Central Jail.

During the investigation, the Crime Branch team also found that the arrested shooters, Vicky Gupta and Sagar Pal, video-called Anmol Bishnoi while disposing of the pistols into the Tapi river in Surat. The Crime Branch suspects that Anmol is currently in America or Canada. The Crime Branch has recovered two pistols that were used in the firing from the Tapi.

A Crime Branch officer said, "We sent a letter to the home ministry to issue LOC against Anmol, the absconding accused in the Salman Khan firing case. The arrested accused revealed that they video-called Anmol while disposing the pistols in the Tapi. We also recovered the same pistols used
for firing."

"The accused also disclosed that after the firing, they were in contact with a gang member. Anmol instructed the shooters to take shelter at the Mata no Madh temple in Kutch Bhuj, which is just 15 kilometres away from the India-Pakistan border. The Bishnoi gang also instructed them to stay in the temple until morning, promising them a new phone and cash. The gang member who was with the shooters also stayed in the temple. The local crime branch of Kutch Bhuj managed to identify both accused and took them into custody upon the instruction of the Mumbai Crime Branch. However, the gang member, upon seeing cops arresting the shooters, managed to escape from the spot," an officer revealed.

The crime branch is also searching for the accused who had delivered the pistol to the shooters in Panvel in early April.

A crime branch officer said, "We have collected pieces of evidence that will prove Lawrence and Anmol Bishnoi's involvement in the firing incident. We are also investigating the list of people who visited Sabarmati Central Jail, where the plot was hatched, in the past few months," an officer said.