Salman Khan house firing case: Family of deceased accused claims police 'murdered' him, says ‘He was not the kind…’

The family of Anuj Thapan, the accused in the firing outside Salman Khan's house case, who died by "suicide" in police custody, has alleged that he was "killed" by the police.

The family also demanded that his postmortem should be conducted outside Mumbai. Abhishek Thapan, the brother of the deceased accused said that Anuj couldn't have done suicide and demanded 'justice'.
"Anuj was taken by Mumbai Police from Sangrur 6-7 days ago. Today, We received a call that Anuj had committed suicide. He was not the kind who could have committed suicide. He was murdered by police We want justice. He worked as a d helper." Abhishek Thapan said.

Speaking to ANI, Sarpanch of the deceased's native village, Manoj Godara, said, "This case is suspicious from the beginning. They were two brothers, one sister and one mother. They don't have a father. Anuj used to work as a helper to a truck driver. He was taken by Mumbai Police without informing the Panchayat. The family was only informed 1-2 days later...we all know how much security is there in police custody."

"On one side is superstar Salman Khan and on the other side are the labourers. Under pressure, they have killed him and framed it as a suicide," he added.

Earlier in the day, Mumbai Police informed that Thapan allegedly attempted suicide and hung himself inside the lock-up. He was taken to the nearest hospital, where he was declared dead He was one of the arms suppliers in the firing case outside actor Salman Khan's house. The police stated that state CID is investigating the suicide case of Anuj Thapan. The Sarpanch demanded that the post-mortem of Anuj Thapan's body should be done outside Mumbai.

"The family is demanding justice. His postmortem should be done outside this state because Salman Khan has influence in Mumbai. Whenever he hears 'Bishnoi' name, he gets scared," Godara further said.

Rajnish, the uncle of the deceased accused also demanded justice and said they were only informed on a phone call that Anuj has died and no explanation was given. "The police had taken Anuj. We were informed only a day later on the phone. Today, we were informed that he died by suicide. When we asked how he died, they didn't say anything and cut the phone... we should get justice. Even if he was guilty, the court should have punished him. What right the police had to kill him." he said.

The matter pertains to April 14 morning, when two men came on a motorbike, fired four rounds outside Salman Khan's Galaxy Apartments, and fled. CCTV footage showed that both accused sported caps and carried backpacks. The clip also showed them firing in the direction of the actor's home. After the arrest of the accused, Kutch DSP AR Zankant said preliminary investigations revealed that the accused were in contact with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.

Mumbai Crime Police arrested both the shooters -- Sagar Pal and Vicky Gupta, as well as the two arms suppliers Sonu Subhash Chander and Anuj Thapan, were also arrested. Meanwhile, a lookout notice has been issued against Anmol Bishnoi, the younger brother of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, in connection with the case. Earlier, the Mumbai Police invoked the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against all the accused arrested in connection with the firing incident.

Mumbai Crime Branch officials said that gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and his brother Anmol Bishnoi have been declared wanted accused in connection with the case. Anmol Bishnoi claimed responsibility for the
firing outside Salman's residence in a Facebook post following the attack.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DNA staff and is published from ANI

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