Anuj Thapan, accused in Salman Khan house firing case, on Wednesday attempted suicide in lock-up of Mumbai Police’s crime branch and died in a hospital where he was rushed to, reported PTI.
The 23-year-old man hanged himself inside the toilet of the lock-up using a bedsheet. He was rushed to the state-run GT Hospital, where he was declared dead during treatment, an official said.
On April 14, two people fired four rounds outside the Galaxy Apartments in Mumbai’s Bandra area, where the actor resides.
Both shooters, Vicky Gupta, 24, and Sagar Pal, 21, were arrested from Gujarat and two arms suppliers, Sonu Kumar Chander Bishnoi, 37, and Anuj Thapan, 32, were detained in Punjab.
An accidental death report will be registered at Azad Maidan police station in south Mumbai.
The city’s crime branch presented Gupta, Pal, and Thapan before a court on Monday, securing a remand in police custody until May 8.
Lawrence Bishnoi, currently incarcerated at Sabarmati Central Prison in Ahmedabad, and his younger brother Anmol, speculated to be in the United States or Canada, are prime suspects in the case. Anmol purportedly claimed responsibility for the gunfire via a Facebook post, despite its IP address tracing to Portugal, police said earlier.
Given the international reach of Lawrence Bishnoi’s criminal network, authorities are scrutinizing potential aid from anti-national elements outside India, including the provision of arms or financial resources, according to the police’s remand application.
Meanwhile, investigators are probing the origins of the firearms supplied to the alleged shooters in this instance, according to an official.