One of the individuals accused of firing shots outside the Mumbai residence of Salman Khan claims to have been influenced by the ‘character’ and ‘principles’ of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi. Vicky Gupta — one of the six people accused in the case — insisted in a recent bail application that the gangster had no role to play in the shooting. The police chargesheet meanwhile names Bishnoi and two others as ‘wanted accused’ in the case.
Gupta however told a special court that Bishnoi was not involved in the shooting. As per his bail application, the accused was influenced by the image of the gangster that had been created by the media. He also claimed to be “magnetically attached to the principles followed by Lawrence Bishnoi” as the jailed gangster is an ardent follower of Bhagat Singh.
"Lawrence Bishnoi is getting entangled by the prosecution for the reasons best known to them," the bail plea added.
Two motorbike borne-individuals (Gupta and co-conspirator Sagar Pal) had opened fire outside the actor's home in the upscale Bandra suburb on April 14 before fleeing the site. They were later arrested from Gujarat and charged alongside Bishnoi, his brother key gang member Rohit Godhara.
According to the police, Anmol Vishnoi (the gangster's brother) had played a key role in motivating the shooters. He is believed to have received the weapons delivery in Panvel a month before the incident and provided the shooters with detailed instructions. The planned firing incident reportedly garnered the shooters a total of ₹3 lakh.
Vicky Gupta also claimed that he only took on the job of shooting with Sagarkumar Pal, as he was unemployed and did not have the money to support his family, thinking this would be a surefire way to earn money. He said the shooting's objective was to only scare Khan for his alleged act of killing two blackbucks 26 years ago.
(With inputs from agencies)
