Three key accused brought to Esplanade Court.
MUMBAI: The three accused arrested in connection with the firing incident linked to actor Tiger Shroff were produced before the 37th Metropolitan Magistrate Court.The police informed the court that five more persons had been arrested in Haryana and Delhi and were being brought to Mumbai.
All the accused are allegedly connected with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.The prosecution said the weapons used in the crime were yet to be recovered and that the accused had destroyed the mobile phones used in the offence.The police sought further custody, arguing that the conspiracy was yet to be fully unravelled and that the financial aspect of the crime, along with the disposal of the mobile phones, needed to be investigated.The prosecution described the offence as serious and claimed that the accused were habitual offenders.It argued that further custodial interrogation was necessary to establish the wider conspiracy and the roles of those involved.The three accused, Rehan Ansari, Phoolsingh and Rithik Mahtoo alias Roshan, appeared very young when produced before the court, with Ansari particularly appearing youthful.Opposing further police custody, advocate Ajinkya Mirgal, appearing for Ansari, argued that the police had already secured the accused from Kota on transit remand and that other arrests had also been made.
He questioned the need for further custody and requested the court to remand the accused to magisterial custody.The court remanded the three accused to police custody till October 31.According to the Mumbai Crime Branch, the three alleged shooters were initially targeting another prominent Bollywood celebrity but allegedly shifted their focus to Shroff after finding that the other celebrity had tight security.Police have not disclosed the identity of the celebrity.
The firing took place around 7pm on Sunday in Juhu when Shroff was leaving a football club. The actor escaped unhurt, while his driver sustained injuries.