A special Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act (MCOCA) court here has framed charges against five persons, including the two alleged shooters, in the 2024 Salman Khan residence firing case.A trial starts once charges are framed. Judge Mahesh Jadhav framed charges against Vickykumar Gupta, Sagarkumar Pal, Sonukumar Bishnoi, Rafiq Sardar Choudhari and Harpal Singh after they pleaded not guilty.Gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, his brother Anmol Bishnoi and Ravtaram Swami have been named as wanted accused in the case.Two motorbike-borne men — Vicky Gupta and Sagar Pal — allegedly opened fire outside Galaxy Apartment in Bandra, the actor’s residence, in the early hours of morning on April 14, 2024. Gupta and Pal, along with Sonukumar Bishnoi, Choudhary and Harpal Singh, are currently in judicial custody. Anujkumar Thapan, also arrested in the case, allegedly committed suicide in police custody.The arrested accused, along with the absconding persons, were parties to the criminal conspiracy and acting as members of an organised crime syndicate (as defined under the MCOCA) headed by Lawrence Bishnoi, said the charge order. They agreed with a common objective to do an illegal act — which was to commit the murder of the victim by use of firearms and to create terror in the minds of the citizens of Mumbai city for establishing supremacy, the charge order said. Singh provided the information collected by Choudhary, who had conducted a recce of Salman’s house, to the wanted accused, it said. Bishnoi provided weapons and bullets to Gupta and Pal who fired at the residence of the victim with the intention to kill him, the charge order said.Thereby, each of the accused allegedly committed an offence under IPC provisions for criminal conspiracy, attempt to murder and relevant provisions MCOCA and they should be tried, the order said.While Lawrence Bishnoi is currently lodged in an Ahmedabad jail, his brother Anmol was recently deported to the country from the USA and is in NIA custody in another case.
