Sharpshooter allegedly planning to assassinate Salman Khan arrested

Sharpshooter allegedly plotting to assassinate Salman Khan arrested by police

A member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang was arrested by the Uttarakhand Police on over his involvement in the murder of a Faridabad resident. While interrogating, it was revealed that Bollywood actor Salman Khan was on his radar next and he had even conducted a recce in Mumbai earlier this year in January for it.

Bishnoi is currently serving jail time in Rajasthan.

According to police, the accused, Rahul hails from Bhiwani and was arrested from Uttarakhand on August 15. He is accused of murdering Praveen, a Faridabad resident who ran a ration depot, on June 24.

“During questioning, it has emerged that Rahul had travelled to Mumbai in January to conduct a recce for the murder of Salman Khan. He went to the actor’s house in Bandra for the purpose and stayed in the area for two days,” said Rajesh Duggal, DCP Faridabad.

“He conducted this recce at the behest of Bishnoi and Sampat Nehra, another member of the gang, who had also conducted a recce to plan for the same crime before he was arrested in June 2018,” he said.

Nehra had been arrested from Hyderabad for allegedly plotting the actor's murder back in 2018. He was also given the job by Bishnoi.

Lawrence Bishnoi had been holding a grudge against Khan ever since he had killed two blackbucks in 1998 in Jodhpur, the police state. The gangster belongs to the Bishnoi community which revers blackbucks.

“Rahul conducted the recce on the directions of Bishnoi and later apprised him of the findings. However, they were unable to take their plan to the next stage because of the coronavirus outbreak,” said the DCP.

“Between 2016 and 2018, he was working at the ESIC Hospital in Faridabad on a temporary basis. In 2018, he was arrested by the Crime Branch Badkhal for possession of an illegal weapon. After being released on bail, he joined the Bishnoi gang in August 2019,” said DCP Duggal.

The murder, for which Rahul was actually arrested, took place on June 24. According to Police, Rahul was also involved in two cases of car snatching in November 2019 and also enabled the release of two prisoners from police custody.