New Delhi: A contract of Rs 25 lakh was taken out to kill actor Salman Khan near his farmhouse in Maharashtra's Panvel, a chargesheet filed by the Navi Mumbai Police stated.
In the chargesheet that named five people, police stated that the contract was taken out by the gang led by jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi. The accused were preparing to buy state-of-the-art weapons AK 47, AK 92 and M 16 from Pakistan and the Turkish-made Zigana weapon, with which Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala was killed. The accused had hired boys below 18 years of age to kill Salman Khan, all of whom are hiding in Pune, Raigad, Navi Mumbai, Thane and Gujarat.
About 60 to 70 people were keeping track of Salman Khan's movement, especially at his Bandra house, Panvel farmhouse and Goregaon Film City. Further, the plan to kill Salman Khan was hatched between August 2023 and April 2024, as per the chargesheet.
Investigation revealed that Sukkha, who was arrested from Haryana's Panipat on Thursday, assigned the hit to the designated shooter Ajay Kashyap alias AK and four others involved in the conspiracy. A recce by Kashyap and his team led to the conclusion that owing to the actor's tight security and bulletproof vehicles, high-end weapons would be required to carry out the murder.
Sukkha contacted Pakistan-based arms dealer Dogar through video call, showing AK-47 and other advanced fire arms wrapped in a shawl, while negotiating the terms of the arms deal. Dogar agreed to supply the weapons, while Sukha agreed to make 50 percent advance payment and the remaining amount on delivery in India.
Police also found that all the shooters were waiting for a go-ahead from Canada-based gangster Goldie Brar and Lawrence Bishnoi's brother Anmol Bishnoi.
The chargesheet also details a plan made by the shooters to gather in Kanyakumari after shooting the 58-year-old actor, from where they would travel to Sri Lanka by boat and then to a country where Indian investigation agencies could not reach them.
The conspiracy to target Salman Khan at his Panvel farmhouse was unearthed when the police was investigation the incident of firing outside his house in Bandra.
Meanwhile, security has been increased outside Salman Khan's Bandra residence following the killing of former minister and NCP leader Baba Siddique. The latter, a former MLA from Bandra and leader in Ajit Pawar's faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), was shot near Nirmal Nagar in Bandra.