Bombay High Court grants bail to 2 accused in foiled plan to kill Salman Khan near Panvel farmhouse
Citing insufficient evidence, the Bombay High Court on Friday granted bail to two men who were accused of being part of a foiled plot to kill Bollywood actor Salman Khan near his farmhouse in Panvel last year. The plot was allegedly hatched by jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi’s gang.
In June 2024, the Mumbai Police uncovered the plot to kill the actor while investigating firing incident outside his residence in Bandra in April last year, which was also carried out by members of the Bishnoi gang.
A bench of Justice NR Borkar granted bail to Waspi Mehmud Khan alias Wasim Chikna, and Gaurav Vinod Bhatia alias Sandeep Bishnoi, after it observed that there was no substantial incriminating evidence against them apart from their presence in a WhatsApp group on which the alleged conspiracy was hatched and discussed.
In the foiled plan case, a total of seven accused were arrested. The police have alleged all of them were members of the Bishnoi gang.
According to the police probe, Gaurav, Waspi and another accused Rizwan Khan alias Javed Khan, had even conducted reconnaissance of the actor’s farmhouse, as well as his home in Bandra.
During the hearing today, Waspi and Gaurav’s lawyer Yashwant Chaware argued that the allegations against them were concocted to gain media attention.
Chaware pointed out that co-accused Deepak Gogalia alias Johnny Valmiki, who was arrested from Rajasthan in June last year, was already granted bail by the Panvel Sessions court.
The lawyer further stressed that the Waspi and Gaurav were neither part of the Bishnoi gang nor were they involved in the alleged conspiracy.
However, additional public prosecutor Geeta Mulekar opposed the bail petition, pointing out that the allegations against the accused were serious.
She also furnished a photo of Bishnoi with an AK-47 rifle from the WhatsApp group and said forensic experts were working to recover data from the phones of the accused.
But after going through the submissions and the fact that an accused had already been granted bail by the Sessions court, the Bombay High Court delivered its verdict
