Tiger Shroff Shooting Case: 10 Arrests, Gang Links And the Pivot From Salman Khan

Sunday evening brought a harrowing scene to Mumbai's Juhu area as Bollywood actor Tiger Shroff walked out of a football match at the Pushpa Narsee Ground. Assailants stepped forward and unleashed a barrage of seven gunshots directly at him, while a third partner stood anvil on a waiting motorcycle. As panic transpired, the trio scurried onto the bike and sped off, eventually ditching it near the Andheri West railway station to catch a train bound for Jaipur. In the chaos of the shooting, Tiger managed to escape with minor scrapes, though his driver took a bullet to the hand and a bystander was hurt in the chest. Keeping his composure amidst the adrenaline, Tiger immediately slid into the driver's seat and rushed his injured driver straight to Nanavati Hospital.

Police Developments, Trail Of Arrests

Police quickly initiated a massive, multi-state manhunt. The results indicated the attack was carefully planned. Investigators found that the shooters had been tailing Tiger for over ten days, keeping tabs on his daily routine, gym workouts, and football games. CCTV footage and call logs procured by The Indian Express establish the trio was lying in wait outside the Juhu football pitch as early as October 11. An investigating officer confirmed they had arrived fully prepared to open fire that evening, but aborted the attempt when the actor failed to turn up. Shroff never got threat calls before the shooting.

The first major break came on October 19 in Kota, Rajasthan, where police tracked down and arrested the two main gunmen along with a getaway driver.

The investigation soon unraveled a much larger network, leading to eight total arrests across Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi. Among those caught were two women accused of smuggling the guns by train all the way from Amritsar to hand them off to the shooters in Mumbai. Three men, identified as Hritik alias Roshan (22), from Begusarai in Bihar, Rehan (18), from Sonipat in Haryana, and Phool Singh (18), also from Haryana, were arrested within 24 hours on Monday.

The Hitmen's Planning

Operating under fake Haryana identities, hitmen Phool Singh and Rehan Singh stayed in Room 201 of a modest, ₹1,500-a-night Andheri East hotel for five days leading up to the attack. Checking in on October 14, the duo used the budget lodge as their base, skulking out daily in auto-rickshaws to conduct local reconnaissance and finalize logistics. They checked out on the afternoon of October 18, just hours before opening fire on Tiger Shroff outside the Juhu sports ground. They never returned.

Arrest Tally Rises

The arrest tally in the Tiger Shroff shooting case climbed to 10 on Wednesday as Mumbai Police collared two key weapon brokers, Samir and Jatin, shortly after Gujarat authorities caught hold of a Lawrence Bishnoi operative. This latest round of busts ensues Tuesday's multi-state sweeps in Haryana and Delhi that netted four co-conspirators. Investigators revealed that Jatin had previously journeyed to Amritsar alongside accomplices Kunal and Sumit specifically to source the firearms used in the assault.

Lawrence Bishnoi Gang Assumes Responsibility

Soon after the failed assassination, jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi claimed responsibility through his associate Anil Pandit. In an audio clip sent to various security agencies, there was a clear, unequivocal threat, "In the entire film industry, whoever works without aligning with us, or works with Salman Khan, will be killed. This is the first and last warning." Salman Khan's name has been tied to threats from the Lawrence Bishnoi gang for a decade. The aggression goes back to 1998 blackbuck poaching case in Rajasthan, where the animal is considered sacred by the Bishnoi community, to which the dreaded gangster belongs. Khan was in Rajasthan to shoot for the one of his blockbusters Hum Saath Saath Hain. During the filming, two blackbucks were allegedly killed near Kankani village in Jodhpur. The superstar was among the actors accused in the case.

2022 and 2023 saw threats being levied at Khan. Security has been beefed up at the superstar's residence after the Shroff attack.

Tiger Shroff Wasn't The Primary Target

Now, the investigation has revealed that Salman Khan was the target. According to sources, the shooters conducted a recce of Salman Khan's house. However, seeing the heavy security outside the Bajrangi Bhaijaan actor's home, the attackers had to step back. Before making their move, the gang actively recced the residences of several high-profile Bollywood stars, including Amitabh Bachchan, Akshay Kumar, and Aamir Khan.

As per a report in NDTV, upon scoping out the spots regularly visited by Salman Khan, the hitmen recognized that bypassing his security detail was almost impossible. They then scuttled their focus toward Tiger Shroff after coming across fan-posted social media reels revealing that he lacked official police protection.

The Mumbai Police will conduct the technical analysis of the audio released by the Lawrence Bishnoi gang to match it to their voice bank.