Mumbai: The suspect arrested in the shooting case at the house of Bollywood megastar Salman Khan committed suicide while in custody, the accused’s family accused the police of the murder.
According to Indian media, 32-year-old Anuj Thapan, along with another accomplice, provided weapons to the accused for shooting at Salman Khan’s house in Mumbai.
The police had first arrested the shooters Vicky Gupta and Sagar from Bhoj in the state of Gujarat and then arrested Anuj Thapan from the Indian state of Punjab on April 26.
Anuj Thapan was lodged in the Crime Branch Jail near the Mumbai Police Headquarters where other accused involved in the incident were also lodged. Police said that around 11 am on May 1, the accused Anuj Thapan went to the toilet but he did not stay for a long time. Despite passing, he did not come out of the toilet.
The police said that when Anuj Thapan did not come out for a long time, the police forcefully opened the toilet door and the accused was hanging in front of it with a noose. Anuj was taken to the hospital where he died during treatment.
A case has been registered in the death of accused Anuj Thapan and the CID will investigate whether the police personnel posted near the jail forced Anuj Thapan to commit suicide or there was some other reason.
A senior police officer said that five policemen were on duty near the jail and there are CCTV cameras, after examining the CCTV footage, we will know what actually happened.
Police sources said that according to other prisoners, Anuj Thapan was so worried about the case that he could not get bail.
On the other hand, Anuj Thapan’s family has alleged that his son did not commit suicide, but he was killed in jail. Abhishek, the brother of the accused, while talking to the Indian media, said that we want justice for Anuj’s murder.
Anuj Thapan’s lawyer told Indian media that the four accused in the case had told the court that they feared for their safety and that one of them had died within 48 hours.
It should be noted that at 5 am on April 14, 2 armed men on a motorcycle fired three rounds outside Salman Khan’s residence Galaxy Apartment in Bandra area of Mumbai and then both men escaped.
During the investigation, the accused told the police that Lawrence Bishnoi had promised Rs 4 lakh for shooting at Salman Khan’s residence.
