Plot to harm Salman Khan: Navi Mumbai police makes fifth arrest from Haryana's Bhiwani

Thane: A man was arrested by Navi Mumbai police from Haryana in connection with a plot to attack actor Salman Khan, taking the number of persons held in the case to five, an official said on Sunday.

He is allegedly a member of the Lawrence Bishnoi and Goldy Brar gangs, the official said.

Earlier, the Panvel police had arrested four persons after getting a tip off in September-October last year about a conspiracy to harm the actor. The probe included infiltrating social media groups of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, police said.

In an official release, Navi Mumbai police said Deepak Hawasingh Gogalia @ Jonny Walmiki (30) was arrested from Bhiwani in Haryana on Saturday. It said Gogalia had made accommodation arrangements for the other accused as well as providing logistical and vehicle support.

Gogalia was in touch with the other accused through video calls, it added.

The release said he was nabbed after Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone 11), Panvel, Vivek Pansare sought the help of Bhiwani SP Varun Singhala and a Crime Branch team from Navi Mumbai left for the northern state.

Gogalia was produced before a magistrate in Bhiwani on Sunday, who granted Navi Mumbai police transit remand till June 5, the release said, adding he was being brought to Panvel.

On Saturday, DCP Pansare had told media that Panvel police station senior inspector Nitin Thackeray got inputs in September-October last year about a conspiracy to harm the actor.

Their probe found that four gang members had recced Salman Khan's farmhouse in Panvel, the area around his home at Bandra in Mumbai and places he visited for film shooting, the DCP had said.

In April, a case was registered a case against 17 persons, including Lawrence Bishnoi and his younger brother Anmol Bishnoi, he had said.

Dhananjay Tapesingh, alias Ajay Kashyap (28) was arrested from Panvel on April 28, while Gaurav Bhatia, alias Sandeep Bishnoi, was taken into custody from Gujarat on the same day, the official said on Saturday.

Vaspi Khan, alias Waseem Chikna, was picked from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Rizwan Khan, alias Javed Khan, was arrested from Bangalore. They have been booked under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections, including 120-B (conspiracy) and 506 (criminal intimidation), Pansare had told reporters.

Lawrence Bishnoi is currently lodged in the Sabarmati central prison in Gujarat’s Ahmedabad, while Anmol Bishnoi is believed to be in the US or Canada.

On April 14, two bike-borne men fired multiple rounds outside Khan’s home – Galaxy Apartments – in Mumbai’s Bandra.

The shooters, Vicky Gupta and Sagar Pal, were arrested from Gujarat. Their associates Sonu Bishnoi and Anuj Thapan, who allegedly delivered weapons to the shooters, were nabbed later from Punjab.

Thapan allegedly hanged himself in a police lock-up here on May 1. Mumbai police subsequently made more arrests in the case.