Salman Khan firing case: Accused gun supplier found hanging in Mumbai police lockup, declared dead

Mumbai, May 1 (IANS) In a sensational development, one of the prime accused in the firing at Salman Khan's home, Anuj Thapan, died after an alleged suicide attempt in a Mumbai Police lockup on Wednesday, an official said. 

The incident took place shortly before noon at the Crime Branch lockup where Thapan, 32, was lodged for investigations after he was sent to police custody till May 8.

A policeman found Thapan hanging inside his cell toilet with the help of a bedsheet, and immediately raised an alarm for help.

He was rushed by a police team to the nearby St. George Hospital in a critical condition but was declared dead on admission, sending the police into a tizzy.

The Azad Maidan Police Station has registered an accidental death report, an official said, adding the motive behind Thapan's suicide is being probed.

Thapan, 32, along with Sonu Chander Bishnoi, was arrested in Punjab on April 25 for allegedly providing the arms and ammunition used for the pre-dawn firing outside Salman Khan's Bandra home on April 14.

Earlier, the Mumbai Police had tracked down the two shooters – Vicky Gupta, 24 and Sagar Pal, 21 -- in the Pakistan-bordering district of Kachchh in Gujarat and brought them to Mumbai.

After their questioning, the police swooped on Bishnoi and Thapan, and they were arrested for supplying the two pistols and several rounds of ammunition which were used to fire at Khan's home in Galaxy Apartments in the posh Bandra west.

As per the probe, Thapan worked as a truck cleaner, while Bishnoi was a farmer-cum-grocer.

Both reportedly had links with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang which claimed responsibility for the firing at Khan's house.

The Mumbai Police last month invoked various sections of the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, besides the Indian Penal Code and Arms Act, against all the four accused, of whom Thapan committed suicide on Wednesday, with possible ramifications on the sensitive probe.

On April 28, a Special Court had sent Gupta, Pal and Thapan to police custody till May 8, while Bishnoi was given judicial custody for a fortnight on health grounds. Simultaneously, the police have also named the mafia don Lawrence Bishnoi and his brother Anmol Bishnoi as 'wanted accused' for the firing at Salman Khan's residence.

The police managed to trace and fish out the two guns and many unused bullets which Gupta and Pal had flung into river Tapi in Surat while fleeing to Kachchh after the April 14 shooting. They were nabbed on April 16.

Anmol Bishnoi is stated to be living in Canada and keeps travelling to different countries, while his sibling Lawrence Bishnoi is currently in jail for various serious crimes.

--IANS

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