Police probing whether Bishnoi gang received help from anti-national elements outside India

MUMBAI: The Mumbai police probing the firing outside Bollywood actor Salman Khan's residence here are trying to find out if the Lawrence Bishnoi gang received help in the form of funds or weapons from anti-national elements active outside India, officials have said.

Two persons had fired four rounds outside the Galaxy Apartments in Mumbai's Bandra area, where the actor resides, early on April 14. The police later arrested both the shooters - Vicky Gupta (24) and Sagar Pal (21) - from Gujarat and two arms suppliers - Sonu Kumar Chander Bishnoi (37) and Anuj Thapan (32) - from Punjab.

The crime branch of city police on Monday produced Gupta, Pal and Thapan before a court, which remanded them in police custody till May 8.

Lawrence Bishnoi, who is lodged in the Sabarmati central prison in Ahmedabad, and his younger brother Anmol who is believed to be in the US or Canada, are wanted accused in the case. Anmol had claimed responsibility for the firing through a Facebook post, though its IP address was traced to Portugal, police had said earlier.

As Lawrence Bishnoi's organised crime syndicate is active at the international level, police were probing if it received any help from anti-national elements outside India, such as supply of arms or funds, the police's remand application said.

Police were also investigating the source of the weapons supplied to the alleged shooters in the present case, an official said.

Investigators believe that the Bishnoi gang wanted to create terror in Mumbai, the financial capital of the country, and were probing if the gang members had tried to extort money from businesspersons, film actors and builders in the city, he said.