Salman home firing: Shooter Vishal was first held in 2020 for bike theft, met Godara gang at Tihar jail

ONE OF the suspects involved in the shooting outside actor Salman Khan’s Mumbai residence Sunday was first arrested in a case of motorbike theft in 2020 and sent to Tihar jail.

Vishal alias Kalu, associated with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, was one of the two suspects on a motorcycle who fired five rounds at Khan’s house in Bandra early Sunday.

“In the CCTV footage shared by the Mumbai police with central agencies, Vishal was walking along with another person, who has been identified as of now. But the police are not disclosing his identity yet,” an official said.

Vishal allegedly works for gangster Rohit Godara. He along with his two others allegedly killed a Gurgaon-based bookie, Sachin, on March 2. “Sachin was gunned down in Rohtak. After the incident, Godara took responsibility for the murder,” an official said.

A school dropout, Vishal is from Mahavir Pura in Gurgaon.

Citingvishal’scriminaldossier,the official quoted above said: “After leavingschool,hestartedworking as a labourer and became friends with some local criminals.”

“On November 9, 2020, he allegedly stole a motorbike from Gurgaon, but he was caught. He was arrested and sent to judicial custody,” the official added.

As per his criminal dossier, after the first case of theft, three cases of robbery, snatching, and arms were registered against him in 2023 at the Bawana police station. “In Tihar jail, he met some of the associates of Godara and decided to join their gang”.

Anmol Bishnoi, the younger brother of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, in a Facebook post, has claimed responsibility. “Lawrence is in jail in Gujarat and heisfasting fornavratri.weare trying to get some leads on these two shooters,” said the official.

CCTV grab of the 2 suspects at Bandra raliway station. The man in red has been identified as Vishal.