New Delhi:
Bollywood actor Tiger Shroff was the original target of the assassination bid, and the shooters had recced homes of other celebrities to avoid suspicion, sources have revealed.
According to sources, the accused recced the residences of actors Amitabh Bachchan, Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir Khan, Akshay Kumar, and Salman Khan under the pretext of sightseeing. But their target was Shroff - whose home, gym, and football ground were surveyed for many days. They had also monitored the Instagram accounts of Shroff and his fans, tracking his movements.
Sources said that the accused also misled the autorickshaw driver to prevent him from suspecting that they were conducting a recce of Shroff's house.
The accused had earlier said that their original target was actor Salman Khan. However, seeing the heavy security outside his home, they decided to step back.
The shooters have now changed their statements, officials said.
Tiger Shroff, the son of actor Jackie Shroff, was shot at on Sunday evening when he had gone to play football in Mumbai's Juhu. As his BMW car bisected the fans waiting at the gate of the compound to catch a glimpse of the actor, two men opened fire on the vehicle in front of them and fired around six to seven rounds of bullets. One of the two attackers then pointed a gun directly at Shroff. However, his gun jammed, leaving the actor unharmed.
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Shroff's driver and a bystander were injured in the attack.
The motive behind the attack was to spread terror within Bollywood, sources said.
Shortly after the incident, the Lawrence Bishnoi gang took responsibility, citing Shroff's proximity to actor Salman Khan - whom the gang has been attempting to target over a blackbuck poaching case.
The shooters - Hrithik alias Roshan (22) from Bihar, Rehan (18), and Phool Singh (18) from Haryana - were arrested in Rajasthan's Kota. According to sources, the three reportedly had links to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang and had planned to flee to Nepal.
Radha and Babita were subsequently arrested at the New Delhi Railway Station.
Two more accused, Kunal (21) and Sumit (19), were arrested in Haryana's Sonipat.