Salman Khan case: Bishnoi gang member nabbed from Bhiwani

Deepender Deswal

Hisar, June 2

In a joint operation, a team of the Bhiwani police and the Navi Mumbai police arrested one Deepak alias Johnny, who was allegedly involved in the plot to kill Bollywood star Salman Khan in Mumbai.

Bhiwani SP Varun Singla said that they got a tip-off about the presence of the accused, identified as Deepak, in Bhiwani. He belongs to Tigrana village in Bhiwani district. In a joint operation, the Bhiwani police CIA-2 staff and the Navi Mumbai team today tracked down Deepak. The accused had been living in Mumbai for about two decades and had returned to Bhiwani apparently to hide from the police, he said. The SP informed mediapersons that the Navi Mumbai police would interrogate the matter further as they had taken the accused in their custody.

According to police officials in Bhiwani, the accused was in touch with the handlers of the Bishnoi gang as he was one of the members in the plot which was being hatched to attack Salman Khan. The accused’s parents resided in Tigrana village while he was settled in Mumbai with his family, police sources said, adding that his parents seemed to be unaware about his activities as he had returned to his native village to escape the police.

Deepak was reportedly one who was assigned the task to provide a vehicle for execution of the plot, the sources said. The Mumbai police registered a case under Section 120 B and 506 of the IPC in this connection and had arrested four persons involved in the conspiracy earlier.

The Navi Mumbai police launched a probe last month after they got some information about a conspiracy to target the actor at his Panvel farmhouse in Mumbai. Besides Deepak, four other accused arrested by Mumbai police are Dhananjay Tapesingh alias Ajay Kashyap, Gaurav Bhatia alias Nahvi, Vaspi Khan alias Waseem Chikna and Rizwan Khan alias Javed Khan.

The CIA Staff-2 Bhiwani received information from Navi Mumbai Police that a person from Tigrana village in Bhiwani district was involved in the conspiracy. Following this, a joint team of CIA Staff-2 Bhiwani and Navi Mumbai Police succeeded in arresting the accused. Deepak was handed over to the Navi Mumbai police. The accused had planned the murder by conducting a recce of Salman Khan’s house and farmhouse.

Fifth person to be arrested

• Had been living in Mumbai for about two decades
• Returned to his parents in Bhiwani apparently to hide
• Was assigned the task to provide a vehicle for execution of plot