Salman Khan assassination plot: Killers were offered Rs 25 lakh to kill actor

The Navi Mumbai police's charge sheet in the Salman Khan assassination plot case by the Bishnoi gang has revealed chilling details about the murder and escape conspiracy. The gang monitored Khan's movements, from his Bandra house to his Panvel farmhouse and Film City. They planned to kill him in the same manner as Sidhu Moose Wala, with weapons like AK-47, M16, and AK-92.

The shooters were offered a contract of R25 lakh to kill Salman Khan. The planning took place between August 2023 and April 2024 before the Panvel police made the first arrest in the case.

Zishaan Zakrul Hasan; Vaspi Mehmood Khan; Gaurav Bhatia; Dhananjay Singh; Deepak Singh, all accused

The Panvel City police have charge-sheeted several members of the Bishnoi gang. The accused have been identified as, Dhananjay Singh, alias Ajay Kashyap, arrested from Uttar Pradesh, Gaurav Bhatia alias Nahayi alias Sandeep Bishnoi, arrested from Gujarat, Vaspi Mehmood Khan, alias Waseem Chikna, arrested from Sambhaji Nagar, Zishaan Zakrul Hasan alias Javed Khan, arrested from Uttar Pradesh, Deepak Hawa Singh Gogaliya, alias John Walmiki.

Sinister plot

The plan was orchestrated by Lawrence Bishnoi, his brother Amol, Goldy Brar, and a Pakistani individual, Dogar. The accused formed a WhatsApp group to coordinate the attack, with Dogar providing weapons from Pakistan.

Crime Branch recovers a second gun used in incident. File pic/PTI

Around 60-70 people were involved in the conspiracy, conducting surveillance on Salman Khan's locations, including his home and film sets.
The information was received by investigating officer PI Nitin Thackeray on November 26, 2023. The officials acted on this information and made the first arrest, of Kashyap, on April 28 this year.

Purchasing of weapons

During the investigation, officials discovered a WhatsApp video where the accused, Kashyap, was on a call with a wanted individual named Dogar in Pakistan. In the video, Dogar was displaying high-tech weapons intended to be transported to India to kill Salman Khan.

Salman Khan. Pic/Instagram

"Dogar said that we could purchase these high-tech weapons, but the amount needed to be transferred to our boss Goldy Brar's account in Canada. Once this was done, the weapons could be transported from Pakistan," the police noted in the charge sheet.

The charge sheet also states that once the weapons were transported to India, various shooters were stationed in Pune, Raigad, Thane, Navi Mumbai, and Gujarat on the orders of Goldy Brar.

"The shooters awaited orders from Brar and Anmol Bishnoi to kill Salman Khan. For the shootings, they assigned people who were below 18 years of age. Additionally, the members assigned one person named John to provide a vehicle for the shooters to carry out the assassination," read the charge sheet.

The escape

After killing Salman Khan, the shooters were instructed to reach Kanyakumari, from where they would be taken to Sri Lanka by boat. From Sri Lanka, they planned to escape to different countries to evade law enforcement agencies.

The accused, Kashyap, had rented a room in Panvel and stayed in Kalamboli, Navi Mumbai, to conduct reconnaissance of different locations associated with Salman Khan, along with other gang members.

Further, the police found that the accused, Kashyap, was in touch with the shooter assigned to kill Salman Khan and had Lawrence Bishnoi's picture on his WhatsApp status. In one of the conversations with Kashyap, the shooter can be heard saying, "Let Salman Khan roam in the bulletproof cars; our shooters are going to kill him," the charge sheet revealed.

Apart from Navi Mumbai police, the Mumbai CB is also investigating the firing case outside Salman's residence and the CB filed a charge sheet this month.

"Evidence presented is based on imaginary WhatsApp chats. The case is weak, and there is no evidence against my clients, accused numbers 1 and 2," said Advocate Ankit Bangera representing accused Kashyap and Khan.