In a dramatic turn of events, Anuj Thapan, one of the prime suspects in the shooting at Salman Khan's residence, reportedly committed suicide in a Mumbai Police cell. According to an official statement, the incident took place on Wednesday.
Thapan, at 32 years of age, was found hanging in his cell toilet by use of a bedsheet, just before noon at the Crime Branch lockup where he was under investigation. He was remanded to police custody till May 8.
The official said on Wednesday that an accidental death report has been filed by officials from the Azad Maidan Police Station and the death of Thapan would also be probed to unearth the motive for suicide. The police department had raised concern after the death.
Thapan, along with Sonu Chander Bishnoi, was held in Punjab on April 25 on suspicion of supplying the firearms that were used in the early morning shooting incident outside Salman Khan's residence on April 14.
Before their arrest, officials from the Mumbai Police had traced the shooters Vicky Gupta and Sagar Pal in the Kachchh district of Gujarat, near the Pakistan border. Following interrogation, Bishnoi and Thapan were arrested for their involvement in the attack on Khan's residence in Bandra.
According to investigations, Thapan worked as a truck cleaner and Bishnoi was known as a farmer and a grocer. Both were said to be linked with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, which had taken responsibility for the shooting at Khan's residence.
Thapan's death may disrupt the ongoing sensitive investigation into the attack. Last month, Mumbai Police invoked various sections of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, along with the Indian Penal Code and the Arms Act, against all four suspects.
A day after this, on April 28, a Special Court ordered the police to remand Gupta, Pal, and Thapan till May 8 while Bishnoi was put in judicial remand for two weeks on health grounds. Similarly, Lawrence Bishnoi and his brother Anmol Bishnoi have also been declared as 'wanted accused' in the shooting incident at Salman Khan's residence.
Police was able to recover the two firearms and several unused bullets, which Gupta and Pal had disposed of in the Tapi River in Surat when fleeing to Kachchh after the shooting on April 14. Anmol Bishnoi is reportedly residing in Canada, visiting from country to country, while Lawrence Bishnoi is currently behind bars on serious charges.
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