Mumbai. The shooters arrested for opening fire outside the house of Bollywood actor Salman Khan had done so with the “intention or knowledge” of killing him at the instigation of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, brother of Anmol. A Mumbai court said this while refusing to grant bail to an accused in the case.
Special judge BD Shelke for cases under the Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act (MCOCA) had on October 18 refused to grant bail to shooter Vicky Gupta. A reasoned order in this case was made available on Monday. Gupta and his associate Sagar Pal had opened fire near actor Khan’s Galaxy Apartment residence in Bandra West on the morning of April 14.
In the order, Judge Shelke said the FIR clearly shows that two persons had come on a motorcycle and the pillion rider on the motorcycle had opened fire on the first floor of Khan’s house. The court said, “The statement of the victim (Khan) shows that being a celebrity, he has many fans in the society and he used to come to the gallery located on the first floor of his house to greet them. “Even in the morning, he remained in the gallery located on the first floor of his house.”
The court said in its order that Khan’s statement and the FIR at this stage indicate that “the bullet was fired in the direction of his point of use in his (Salman Khan) house.” The order said that the transcript of the call recording between Gupta and Anmol Bishnoi, younger brother of wanted accused and jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, has been placed on record by the prosecution.
The court said, “This shows that as per the instigation and instructions of wanted accused Anmol Bishnoi, accused number-1 (Gupta) and two (Sagar Pal) have committed these acts.” In the charge sheet filed by the police, Lawrence Bishnoi has been shown as a wanted accused. The special judge underlined that the most important prima facie evidence while deciding on bail is the confessional statement of the accused. The court said that Gupta’s statement shows that he came in contact with Pal and then joined the gang of wanted accused.
The order mentions that Gupta has narrated all the details about his involvement in the gang and has described the entire incident of how he carried out recce and conspired to carry out the firing. The court said that it is clear from the confessional statement of the accused and the evidence that accused number-one (Gupta) and accused number-two (Pal) along with other wanted accused and the gang leader had conspired to murder the victim and they were Knew he had committed a criminal act.
On the imposition of MCOCA against Gupta, the court said that the accused cannot escape the offenses punishable under the Act merely on the ground that he has no criminal history. The court said that cognizance can be taken of the charge sheets filed against wanted accused Lawrence Bishnoi and Anmol Bishnoi in this case (for imposing MCOCA against Gupta). The court said that the material placed on record including the confessional statement clearly shows at this stage that he is involved in the crime.
The special judge said that considering the nature of the crime, the possibility of recurrence of similar crimes due to being a gang member cannot be ruled out. Judge Shelke said in his order that the accused is not entitled to bail. Gupta, Pal, Sonu Kumar Bishnoi, Mohammad Rafiq Chaudhary and Harpal Singh are currently in judicial custody in the firing case. Another accused Anuj Kumar Thapan had committed suicide in police custody.