Salman house firing: Haryana native Singh helped co-accused Chowdhary join Bishnoi gang

PTI, May 16, 2024, 8:09 AM IST

Mumbai: Haryana native Harpal Singh, the latest person to be arrested in the Salman Khan residence firing case, had helped co-accused Mohammed Rafique Chowdhary, nabbed for funding shooters in the case, join the Lawrence Bishnoi gang after they became friends on social media, the Mumbai police said.

Chowdhary and Harpal Singh alias Harry, who has spent time in jail in separate criminal cases, became friends on social media platform Facebook in 2018. Singh later introduced him to gangster Lawrence Bishnoi’s fan page, said officials of the Mumbai crime branch, which is investigating the April 14 firing outside Bollywood superstar Salman Khan’s home in Bandra.

Singh (34), a resident of Sirsa city in Haryana, was apprehended by a team of the Mumbai crime branch from Fatehabad in his home state on Monday evening (May 13). He is the sixth person to be arrested in connection with the firing incident and he is a member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.

According to the police, Singh was an important link of communication in the firing episode as he was directly in contact with Anmol Bishnoi, younger brother of Lawrence Bishnoi, and another gang leader Rohit Gudara.

Singh was the one who helped Chowdhary (37), arrested last week for providing financial help to the two shooters involved in the firing, join the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, said an official.

He had also added Chowdhary in a WhatsApp group which consisted of other members of the gang, the official informed.

Singh was previously arrested in two cases, once in 2022 when there was some issue among the gang members and a case was filed against him. He was in prison for 6 months before coming out. Singh was again nabbed last year in a firing case in Chhattisgarh capital Raipur and spent 11 months in jail, he said.

After coming out of the prison, Singh drafted Chowdhary in the gang’s plan to fire outside Khan’s residence, said the official.

Singh had told Chowdhary that if caught, he will be out on bail within three months. Singh was unaware of stringent provisions of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), which make getting bail difficult for an accused, he said.

The police have invoked MCOCA in the shooting case.

Singh had handed over Rs 2 lakh to Rs 3 lakh to Chowdhary to be given to the shooters, Sagar Pal and Vicky Gupta, both residents of Bihar. The police were trying to ascertain who had provided this money to Singh, said the official.

Chowdhary, who had spent years residing in Mumbai, was aware of the city police’s working style and had told Singh that if caught he will take his name, the official said.

Chowdhary was given the responsibility to conduct a recce of Khan’s residence and finance shooters Pal and Gupta for accommodation and other requirements. Chowdhary, arrested from a village in Nagaur district in Rajasthan, used to regularly speak with Anmol Bishnoi and Gudara on Signal and other calling apps, the official said.

He had told shooters that Anmol Bishnoi has given him ‘bigger task’ than them, he said.

After the firing incident, the Mumbai crime branch arrested the shooters first and then the weapon suppliers.

As Chowdhary had warned he would take name Singh’s if arrested, the latter left his native place and started staying in Fatehabad by changing his looks and identity. However, the Mumbai crime branch managed to trace Singh and nab him, said the official.