Brother of Anuj Thapan, one of the accused in the Bollywood actor Salman Khan house firing case who died by suicide on Wednesday, has claimed that his brother has been murdered by the police in custody.
Abhishek Thapar, a resident of Sukhchain village in Punjab’s Abohar, said that his brother, who worked as a truck driver, was not the kind of person who would commit suicide.
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Also Read: Anuj Thapan, arrested in firing at Salman Khan house case, dies by suicide: Cops
“Anuj was taken by Mumbai Police from Sangrur 6-7 days ago. Today, we received a call that Anuj had committed suicide. He was not the kind who could have committed suicide. He was murdered by police. We want justice. He worked as a truck helper,” news agency ANI quoted Abhishek as saying.
Anuj Thapan, alias Anujkumar Omprakash Thapan, was arrested from Punjab’s Sangrur on April 26 and was lodged in a crime branch lock-up at Mumbai police headquarters. Earlier today, he was found hanging inside the toilet of the lock-up using a bedsheet. He was rushed to hospital, where he was declared dead during treatment. The body will be sent to JJ Hospital for post-mortem examination, and the State CID will investigate the death.
Why was he arrested?
Anuj was arrested along with Sonu Subhash Chander alias Sonukumar Bishnoi on charges of supplying arms to the two attackers who fired gunshots outside Salman Khan’s residence in Mumbai. Meanwhile, the two shooters, Vicky Gupta (24) and Sagar Pal (21), both residents of Bihar, were arrested from Mata No Madh village in Gujarat’s Kutch district on April 16 by the crime branch.
Also Read: Lawrence Bishnoi’s kin claims role in firing outside Salman Khan’s house: Report
The crime branch team later recovered two pistols, magazines, and bullets from the Tapi River in Gujarat during a search operation to recover weapons allegedly used in the firing.
Opposition attacks state government:
Meanwhile, NCP (Sharad Pawar) leader Supriya Sule slammed the Eknath Shinde-led state government over the law and order situation in the state. She said that such incidents expose the misplaced priorities of the BJP to solely focus on winning elections by any means rather than considering themselves responsible to the public by running the government administration.
“Words fall short for the appalling state of affairs of law and order in Maharashtra under the BJP Government. An accused in Salman Khan’s residence firing case has died by allegedly attempting suicide while in police custody. Such incidents expose the misplaced priorities of the BJP to solely focus on winning elections by any means rather than considering themselves responsible to the public by running the government administration. The firing itself was a failure of intelligence, the death of the accused by ‘suicide’ at the very least shows the sheer casualness in approach of the BJP when in power, even if the overarching suspicious circumstances are not considered. If this can happen in such a high profile case, it is unimaginable how unsafe are others in Maharashtra, and disheartening to witness the BJP tarnish the reputation of Maharashtra day by day,” she said in a post on X.
Salman Khan firing incident:
On April 14, two men came on a motorbike, fired four rounds outside the actor’s residence at Bandra’s Galaxy apartments in Mumbai and fled. Though no one was injured in the shooting. CCTV footage showed that both accused sported caps and carried backpacks. The clip also showed them firing in the direction of the actor’s home.
Also Read: Salman Khan house firing: Look out notice issued against Anmol Bishnoi
Meanwhile, the police have also issued a lookout notice against jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi’s brother Anmol Bishnoi, who, in a purported social media post, claimed responsibility for firing gunshots outside the actor’s residence. The police have identified him as a wanted accused in the case.
