They fled Mumbai for Nepal, but police were waiting at Kota: Inside Tiger Shroff shooters’ arrest
Tiger Shroff firing accused were caught from a train at Kota in a 15-minute operation. Here is how the police tracked them and where they planned to flee
Tiger Shroff shooting: The three men accused of firing at actor Tiger Shroff were on the run for less than a day. They were picked up on Monday from a general coach of a train at Kota station in Rajasthan, in an operation that the police say took just 15 minutes.
The chase, step by step
The shooting happened on Sunday evening in Mumbai’s Juhu area. Within hours, the Mumbai police began tracing the movements of the attackers.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis explained how the trail unfolded. According to him, the accused first fled towards Surat after the firing and then boarded a train headed for Jaipur. The Mumbai police shared the details with their Rajasthan counterparts, who worked with the local police to intercept the suspects at Kota.
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The Pune-Jaipur Superfast Express pulled into Kota at 10.17 am. The police went straight to the general coach and took the three men into custody, Kota SP Tejaswani Gautam said.
Where were they headed?
During initial questioning at the SP’s office in Kota, the suspects told the police they boarded the train after “executing the crime”. Their plan, the SP said, was to reach Jaipur, take a bus to Delhi and then cross the border into Nepal. No weapon was recovered from them. The police found the motorcycle used in the attack in Andheri.
Who are the accused?
The three include Ritik alias Roshan from Begusarai in Bihar and Rehan from Sonepat in Haryana. DCP Raj Tilak Roshan told a press conference in Mumbai that one of the accused is 18 and the other two are 22. He denied earlier reports that one of them was a minor.
Rehan’s father, Raisuddin, told reporters in Haryana that his son is a Class 9 dropout and was out on bail in an Arms Act case. He said Rehan had not lived with him for nearly 10 years and stayed with his mother in Devdu village.
The police said Rehan was in touch with Anil Pandit, an alleged aide of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. The gang claimed responsibility for the attack in an unverified social media post.
The accused are in custody and the police will bring them to Mumbai once legal formalities are complete. They are yet to be fully interrogated. Cases of attempt to murder and under the Arms Act have been registered.
“Everyone involved in this will be traced. No one will be spared,” Fadnavis said.
Background of the attack
Five to six rounds were fired at Tiger Shroff’s car at close range, according to the police. The incident was caught on video. The 36-year-old actor, son of veteran star Jackie Shroff, escaped largely unhurt, but his driver and a bystander were injured.
A purported audio clip of Pandit, a 32-year-old US-based gangster from Panipat, has been widely shared. In it, he allegedly claims Shroff was targeted for ignoring warnings not to work with Salman Khan. PTC News does not verify the clip’s authenticity.