The three accused shooters first planned to target actor Salman Khan and carried out a recce of his residence after reaching Mumbai, a police source said. They dropped the plan after seeing police deployment outside his home.
The accused then shifted their focus to actor Tiger Shroff. According to sources, they learned from fan posts and Instagram pages that he visited a football ground in Mumbai’s Juhu area every Sunday and had relatively limited security. They allegedly believed he would be an easier target because he moved around in public with less protection.
Salman Khan’s security has been strengthened since the 2024 firing at his residence. He has Y-plus security cover from Mumbai Police, with round-the-clock deployment outside his home and armed policemen following him in a jeep. Local police teams sanitise the locations he visits and deploy extra personnel there. Barricades have now been put up near his apartment.
Soon after the shooting, Anil Pandit and Harman Sandhu, both linked to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, claimed responsibility in a social media post. The post read, “Regarding the incident with Tiger Shroff today, we take responsibility. We had called and warned him earlier, but he failed to understand, so today we made him understand properly (sic).” It also threatened others in the Mumbai film industry who work with Salman Khan and warned rival groups against claiming credit.
Kota Police in Rajasthan arrested three shooters, two from Haryana and one from Bihar, in connection with the firing. They were later handed over to Mumbai Police. Four others, two men and two women, were arrested in Haryana’s Sonipat district on Tuesday night for allegedly supplying weapons to the shooters who fired at Tiger Shroff’s car, sources said.
The two women, Radha and Babita, allegedly worked as couriers for the gang. They travelled by train from Haryana to Mumbai with the weapons and handed them to a handler linked to the gang. The Special Cell questioned them while they were returning by train, and they allegedly named a man called Kunal, who is suspected of being close to Anil Pandit. Kunal was arrested, and his questioning led to the arrest of Sumit. Police are investigating the roles of all four accused and their links to the wider network.
