A bike-borne gunman fired five rounds at the Juhu bungalow-building of producer-director Rohit Shetty in Bombay shortly after midnight on January 31 — around 12.45 a.m. on February 1. Rohit and his family were at home but nobody was injured.
The suspected gunman and three others were arrested from Pune within 12 hours. CCTV camera footage showed the alleged gunman abandoning the bike 2 kms. away, based on which he and the others were held. All of them are in the age group of 18-23 and one of them is a collegian. A fifth man has been served a notice. The arrested are Swapnil Sakat, Siddharth Yenpure, Aditya Gayaki and Samarth Pomaji. The police haven’t revealed which one is the gunman.
A gang associate of Lawrence Bishnoi, Pune-based Shubham Lonkar, posted a message on social media claiming responsibility for the firing. The post mentioned: “We, Shubham Lonkar, Arzoo Bishnoi, Hari Boxer, and Harman Shandu, take responsibility for the firing that took place today at film director Rohit Shetty’s house (Shetty Tower) in Mumbai. We messaged him (Rohit Shetty) many times telling him not to interfere in our work, but he didn’t understand. We’ve given him this small trailer. If he doesn’t understand our message and doesn’t listen to us, then the next bullet won’t be fired outside his house, but inside his bedroom, right in his chest. And this is a warning to the entire Bollywood industry: mend your way while you still have time, otherwise, your situation will be very bad.”
The police said, the suspect came on a bike from Pune, fired five rounds and abandoned his bike 2 kms. away. The bike had a Pune registration. The rider was captured on CCTV near Shetty’s home.
The bullets struck the first floor and the wall of Shetty Towers, the bungalow-building of Rohit Shetty. The filmmaker called the police soon after the firing.
Rohit Shetty has been close to many senior police officers in Bombay. He recently acquired the filming rights of a book on the underworld, written by former police commissioner Rakesh Maria.