MUMBAI: Fugitive gangster Shubham Lonkar, alleged mastermind of the firing incident outside film producer and director Rohit Shetty’s residence in Juhu on February 1, had promised to pay ₹3 lakh to the four arrested accused who allegedly executed the attack, sources in the Mumbai crime branch told Hindustan Times.
“All four accused including Deepak Sharma who shot five rounds at Shetty’s residence are from Agar district in Uttar Pradesh. Lonkar had promised them ₹3 lakh for carrying out the recce and the firing. But they received only ₹50,000 in cash,” a crime branch officer said, requesting not to be identified. “We are checking if they received more money after the firing.”
Deepak Sharma was under heavy debt after his sister’s marriage, and he took up the offer to execute the attack as he had mortgaged his house and wanted to clear the loan, the officer noted.
Investigators said they have also seized the weapon allegedly used in the firing from Jhajjar in Haryana.
“A police team went to Haryana after Deepak Sharma (the alleged shooter) revealed the spot where he had hidden the weapon. We recovered the weapon and have sent it to the forensic science laboratory in Kalina to match with the five bullet shells recovered from outside Shetty’s house,” the officer quoted earlier said.
Investigators also said they have come across several reels made by some of the arrested accused in which they are seen talking about guns, gangsters and bikes.
“We will seize the reels as they can be crucial evidence for us,” said a police officer.
Shetty’s residence, the 10-storeyed ‘Shetty Tower’, is located on Hasya Kalakar Mehmood Chowk in Juhu. CCTV footage from the area showed a man approaching the building on foot and opening fire with a weapon at 12.40am on February 1. Investigators recovered five bullets from the incident spot, alongside a scooter, which they suspect was used by the shooter, two kilometres away from the spot.
Lonkar, an alleged aide of incarcerated gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, is believed to be the mastermind behind the attack. He is also accused of planning the October 2024 murder of former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique, and is believed to be hiding somewhere in China.
As reported by HT on February 17, the four persons accused of executing the attack – Sonu Thakur, Sunny Kumar, Deepak Sharma and an unidentified person – were among seven persons arrested from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh last week. The four were part one module while another module of five accused arrested earlier from Pune provided logistical support by procuring and delivering the scooter and weapon used in the incident, investigators said.