Dead drop, help from girlfriend: How Tiger Shroff shooters got gun used in attack

Police arrested four alleged suppliers linked to the firing at Tiger Shroff's car. The probe revealed a covert weapon route involving Amritsar, Delhi and Mumbai.

In Short

• Weapons for Tiger Shroff attack moved via dead letter box from Amritsar to Mumbai
• Delhi Police arrested four accused involved in weapon supply
• Two women transported gun to Mumbai, guided via encrypted app

A weapons supply syndicate linked to Lawrence Bishnoi gang operative Anil Pandit used a “dead letter box” system to transport firearms for the October 18 firing at Bollywood actor Tiger Shroff’s car in Mumbai. The weapons were collected from a pre-arranged location in Amritsar and carried to Mumbai by two women, police said.

The Delhi Police Special Cell on Tuesday arrested Kunal, Sumit, Radha and Babita for supplying a weapon to the three shooters involved in the incident.

According to police, Kunal and Sumit travelled to Amritsar around two weeks before the firing to collect a pistol and 20 rounds of ammunition from a location specified by Pandit.

The spot was a “dead letter box”, a pre-arranged location where weapons or other items are left for another person to retrieve.

The two men did not know who had placed the weapons there, police sources said.

Pandit paid Kunal and Sumit between Rs 70,000 and Rs 80,000 for the assignment. The duo paid Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,000 to Radha and Babita to transport the weapons to Mumbai.

Police sources said Kunal was released from Sonipat jail in July. After his release, a friend introduced him to Pandit, and the two began communicating through an encrypted app.

Kunal had met Radha around two months before the firing and developed a relationship with her.

He allegedly told her about his activities before persuading her to carry the weapon to Mumbai along with Babita.

On October 15, Kunal took the two women to New Delhi Railway Station. Radha carried the pistol in her bag, while Kunal remained in contact with them through an encrypted app during the journey, relaying instructions from Pandit, police said.

The women reached Mumbai on October 17, got off at Dadar and checked into a hotel. At around 11 am, a boy collected the bag from Radha near the hotel.

While the three shooters -- Rehan, Phool Singh and Hrithik Kumar -- were arrested in Rajasthan's Kota on Monday, the man who facilitated contact between them and Pandit was taken into custody from Haryana’s Sonipat.

The three have been charged with attempt to murder and have been brought to Mumbai.

While claiming responsibility for the attack, the Bishnoi gang also issued fresh threats against those working with Bollywood actor Salman Khan.

The gang’s hostility towards Khan stems from allegations that the actor hunted and killed two blackbucks in Rajasthan in the late 1990s. The blackbuck is considered sacred by the Bishnoi community.

Salman Khan was initially convicted by a court under the Wildlife Protection Act before being acquitted by the Rajasthan High Court.

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