MUMBAI: The police have invoked the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) in the case related to the firing at filmmaker Rohit Shetty’s residence in Juhu, claiming in court on Wednesday that the accused wanted to create terror in the city.
A special MCOCA court remanded the five accused in police custody till February 17, observing that the incident was just the “tip of the iceberg”.
At least five rounds were fired at the first floor of Shetty’s nine-storey building in Juhu in the early hours of February 1. No one was injured in the incident.
Five accused, all residents of Pune, have so far been arrested—Swapnil Sakat, 23; Samarth Pomaji, 19; Siddhant Yenpure, 19; Aaditya Gayaki, 19; and Asaram Shrirang Fasale, 42. “Some of the accused are already involved in serious offences. The crime branch has, therefore, invoked MCOCA,” said a police officer.
Seeking their remand for another 15 days, the police told the court that the accused were linked to Shubham Lonkar, the prime accused in the murder of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Baba Siddique.
Lonkar, who is on the run, has also been named an accused in the Rohit Shetty case, along with his brother, Pravin, who is in judicial custody for his alleged role in the Siddique murder case.
Investigators suspect that Pravin Lonkar supplied some of the weapons used in the firing at Shetty’s residence. The police will now seek his custody in court, an officer said, adding that the main shooter in the case is still at large and efforts are underway to track him down.
The defence lawyers opposed the fresh remand plea, saying there were no new grounds, and the mere invocation of MCOCA does not give police rights to custody.
However, the court noted that although the case appears to be small, it is the “tip of the iceberg”. Considering the alleged involvement of an organised crime syndicate, further investigation “is indispensable” and sufficient time needs to be given to the probe agency to dig out the truth, the court said, while remanding the accused in further police custody till February 17.
Investigators suspect the involvement of members of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, a well-known organised crime syndicate that has been linked to other high-profile crimes and threats in Mumbai.
Threat mails, messages
Meanwhile, other Bollywood celebrities, including actors Ranveer Singh and Aayush Sharma, have also received threat calls and messages recently, officers aware of the investigation said.
Sharma has informed the police that he received a threatening email last week, purportedly sent by the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. “The gang has used a sophisticated Virtual Private Network (VPN) to hide the origin of the email, and the Mumbai crime branch is investigating the matter,” said a police officer.
The officer added that the email was sent through an encrypted ProtonMail account, which offers a high degree of anonymity. A First Information Report has not yet been registered as the sender’s identity is still unknown.
The police suspect Sharma was targeted because he is the brother-in-law of superstar Salman Khan. The Lawrence Bishnoi gang, which has a long-standing vendetta against Khan, had carried out a firing outside his Bandra residence in 2024.
In Ranveer Singh’s case, one of the actor’s managers received a WhatsApp voice note allegedly demanding a ransom and warning of consequences if it was not paid, according to a crime branch officer. The clip was sent using Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology to mask the sender’s identity, the officer added. It isn’t clear yet whether the Bishnoi gang is involved in this case.
In a related development, residents of BeauMonde Towers in Prabhadevi, where Singh lives with his actor wife Deepika Padukone, have written to the Dadar police station, inquiring whether the police have granted the couple permission to deploy six armed security guards on the society’s premises.
In a letter addressed to the police, the society’s office bearers said that armed security guards were moving through the lobby, the gymnasium area, and the children’s play area in the society. The society requested the local police to verify their credentials, whether they had licensed weapons, and whether the police personnel with them were indeed genuine.
With inputs from PTI