Mumbai Firing Case Outside Rohit Shetty’s Home: Five Accused Sent to Police Custody Till February 11, Prime Suspect Still Absconding

Mumbai | 

In a major breakthrough in the firing incident outside filmmaker Rohit Shetty’s Mumbai residence, the Mumbai Crime Branch has secured police custody of five accused till February 11, while the main accused remains absconding, officials said on Thursday.

The court remanded Swapnil Bandu Sakat, Siddharth Deepak Yenpure, Samarth Shivsharan Pomaji, Aditya Gyaneshwar Gayaki, and Asharam Fasale to police custody after the Crime Branch argued that further interrogation was essential to uncover the larger conspiracy behind the attack.

Police informed the court that a pistol, an air gun, and three magazines were recovered from the house of accused Swapnil Sakat. Additionally, three pistols were seized from the possession of the fifth accused, Asharam Fasale, strengthening the case against the arrested individuals.

Digital Evidence Under Probe

Investigators revealed that the accused had deleted the Signal messaging app from their mobile phones, allegedly to destroy crucial digital evidence. The Crime Branch said extended custody was required to recover chats, analyze digital footprints, and gather further evidence, adding that this would not be possible without custodial interrogation.

The prime accused, Shubham Lonkar, is still on the run, and multiple Crime Branch teams have been deployed across different parts of the country to track him down.

Defense Claims Limited Role

Defense lawyers argued that accused Siddharth, Samarth, and Aditya were only involved in arranging a vehicle and had no knowledge of the subsequent events. “After handing over the car, we do not know what happened. Four days of police custody is sufficient,” the defense counsel submitted.

Countering the claim, police stated that while the phones were already seized, in-depth forensic and digital analysis required additional time, making extended custody necessary.

Incident Details

Late at night, unidentified persons opened fire outside Rohit Shetty’s residence, following which the filmmaker lodged a complaint with the police. However, Shetty later informed investigators that he had not received any threat calls or messages prior to the incident.

The Crime Branch continues to probe the case to identify all those involved and determine the motive and conspiracy behind the firing.

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