Salman Khan Residence Firing Case: Bombay HC Seeks Status Of Probe Into 'Custodial Death' Of Accused Anuj Thapan

Mumbai: The Bombay high court on Wednesday directed the State to submit a status report of the probe into the alleged suicide in police custody by Anuj Thapan, who was an accused in the April 14 firing incident outside actor Salman Khan's Bandra residence.

The court has also directed the state to preserve the CCTV footage of the police station where Thapan was lodged and also the call data record (CDR) of the police station and police officers concerned.

The directions were passed while hearing a petition filed by Rita Devi seeking a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into her son’s “unnatural death”. Demanding a fresh autopsy, she alleged that her son, who was working as a helper with a truck driver, died due to police assault in custody.

Thapan was found hanging in the lock-up toilet of the Crime Branch at the Commissionerate Complex in Crawford Market on May 1. The police claimed that he used a bedsheet to take the extreme step.

During the hearing, state advocate Prajakta Shinde informed the bench that an Accidental Death Report (ADR) was registered and the probe has now been transferred from the Mumbai Crime Branch to the Crime Investigation Department (CID) on May 3.

Devi’s advocate Abhiraj Ray sought a probe by the CBI since it was a case of custodial death. The bench, however, said that it cannot blindly transfer the probe in a case. It then asked for a status report of both the inquiries being conducted.

“We will first call for a status report. We cannot blindly transfer the probe,” a vacation bench of Justices Sandeep Marne and Neela Gokhale said. It then asked Shinde, “What is the status of the magisterial inquiry and also the CID probe? File a status report. Let us first see what is the status of these two inquiries.”

Shinde said that the post mortem was conducted by JJ Hospital and another post mortem was conducted, the family’s request, in Punjab. The court kept the matter for hearing on May 22 and meanwhile asked to preserve the CCTV footage of the police station and the CDR.

On April 14, two motorcycle-borne men fired outside Galaxy Apartment in Bandra where Khan resides with his family. The alleged shooters - Vicky Gupta and Sagar Pal - were later arrested from Gujarat. Thapan, along with his associate was apprehended from Punjab on April 26 on charges of supplying firearms and ammunition for the shooting. Police claimed he was allegedly associated with gangster Lawrence Bishnoi.

So far, six persons have been arrested in connection with the case and have been booked under the stringent MCOCA.