Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai
Mumbai, Feb 16: Six additional individuals have been arrested in connection with the shooting incident outside filmmaker Rohit Shetty’s house on Monday. The suspects were apprehended from Rajasthan and are being brought to Mumbai, the Mumbai Crime Branch, according to news agency ANI. This brings the total number of arrests in the case to 11.
Earlier, five accused had been presented before a special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court on Wednesday. The police have invoked MCOCA provisions, suspecting that an organised crime network was behind the attack. The court remanded all five to police custody until February 17, citing the seriousness of the offence and the need for a detailed investigation.
Defence lawyer Ajinkya Mirgal raised questions about the alleged link between the accused and Praveen Lonkar, who is currently serving time in connection with the Baba Siddique murder case. Mirgal noted that the weapon recovered from the first accused, Swapnil Sakat, was reportedly supplied by Lonkar, which the defence claims is doubtful given Lonkar’s incarceration.
The arrests stem from the February 1 incident, when assailants fired four rounds outside Shetty’s residence. Four individuals were apprehended immediately, while a fifth suspect, Asaram Fasle alias Babu, was arrested on February 5. Police say the accused used the Signal app to communicate in order to maintain secrecy, and investigators are seeking deleted chats involving Shubham Lonkar, alleged to be the mastermind behind both the Baba Siddique murder and the Rohit Shetty attack.
According to the Crime Branch, Fasle, who worked as a garage mechanic for the Bishnoi gang for the past four years, provided weapons to Sakat on Lonkar’s instructions, which were then used in the firing. Defence counsel for the first accused argued that there is no direct evidence linking his client to the crime scene or to Shubham Lonkar.
The court has extended custody for the original four suspects and granted a 10-day custody for Fasle, as investigations continue into the organised crime connections behind the incident.