Tiger Shroff shooters spent a month in Mumbai scouting film stars' homes before firing

The investigation into the firing on actor Tiger Shroff has brought out several new details. According to police sources, the three attackers spent about a month travelling around different parts of Mumbai by auto-rickshaw and taxi, scouting the homes of Bollywood stars. They were checking security arrangements in areas such as Bandra, Juhu, Yari Road and Versova. To scout Shroff, they also went to a ground in Juhu.

The three main accused told auto and taxi drivers that they had come to Mumbai as tourists and wanted to see the homes of film stars. They visited the homes of some leading celebrities and assessed security there. They had photographs taken in front of the houses and also made videos. The photos and videos were sent through Telegram to gangster Anil Pandit.

According to information, an auto-rickshaw driver told them that Shroff comes to the ground in Juhu to play football every Sunday. The three then went to the ground on 11 October, but found that Shroff had not come that day. They went again the next Sunday, 18 October, this time with weapons.

It is being said that the three had no weapons on 11 October. The foreign-made and country-made pistols reached them on 17 October, when two women, Babita and Radha, travelled from Delhi to Mumbai. Radha and Babita brought the weapons from Haryana to Mumbai and handed them to the attackers Phool Singh, Rehan and Hrithik. The two women then went to Vasai and from there left for Rajasthan.

Sources said that while Rehan, Phool Singh and Hrithik were scouting, two more men came to meet them. Both came from Haryana, stayed with them in Mumbai for four days and went back. Their names are said to be Kunal and Sumit. Police have arrested them along with Radha and Babita. It was Kunal who had engaged Radha and Babita for this work. The three accused had first sent the photos and videos of the scouting to Kunal, and Kunal passed them to gangster Anil Pandit.

Sources associated with the investigation said the accused Hrithik had rented a small room from a Muslim family in the Gilbert Hill area of Juhu. It is being said that the three stayed in this room for a few days. Mumbai Crime Branch has questioned the landlord family and neighbours and recorded their statements.

Local residents told police that Hrithik earlier had long hair, which he later had shaved off. They also said that Hrithik rode a battery-operated bike and that two young men lived with him. Both were young and tall, did not speak to anyone and were always outside.

After the weapons arrived on 17 October, the firing on Shroff took place on 18 October. Police sources said one foreign-made and one country-made pistol were used in the attack. Little is known about which foreign pistol it was. After the attack, the three shooters went from Juhu's Pushpa Park to Andheri station on a yellow Pulsar motorcycle.

According to information, they parked the bike in the police parking lot at Andheri West and climbed the stairs from platform number 1 to platform 4. From there, the three took a fast local train to Borivali. After getting off at Borivali, they reached Surat by taxi. They were to go from Surat to Jaipur by train, but before that police caught all three at Kota railway station.