Mumbai Police have stepped up security around actor Salman Khan's Galaxy Apartments home in Bandra, after the arrested shooters in the Tiger Shroff firing case allegedly told investigators that Khan was their first target.
Sources quoted by NDTV said the three accused scouted the area around Khan's residence before the attack, but found they could not get close to him and backed off.
Police have not publicly confirmed the account.
According to the same sources, the men then turned to Shroff, having learnt from fan posts on Instagram that he moved around without police protection.
They reportedly said their aim was to spread fear across Bollywood. Officers are now checking every vehicle passing the Bandra building as a precaution.
Shroff was leaving a football ground in Juhu on Sunday evening when two men opened fire on his car.
A third man waited nearby on a motorcycle. Seven rounds were fired, five of which reportedly struck the vehicle, injuring Shroff's driver and one other person.
The trio abandoned the bike near Andheri West railway station and boarded a train to Jaipur.
They were arrested within hours at Kota railway station in a joint operation by Mumbai Police and Rajasthan's Anti-Gangster Task Force. The accused are Hritik alias Roshan (22) from Bihar, and Rehan (18) and Phool Singh (18), both from Haryana.
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Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis spoke to Shroff by phone and promised strict action against the shooters and whoever planned the attack.
The Lawrence Bishnoi gang claimed responsibility. In an audio clip circulated on social media, a man identifying himself as Anil Pandit, described as an associate of the jailed gangster, accepted blame along with Harman Sandhu.
He said Shroff had been warned but ignored it, and cautioned that anyone in the industry working with Khan would be targeted. The clip has not been independently verified.
ALSO READ | Who Are The Women Arrested In Tiger Shroff Firing Case? Police Probe Alleged Weapons Link
The gang's hostility towards Khan goes back to 1998, when he was accused of killing a blackbuck during the shooting of a film near Jodhpur in Rajasthan.
The animal is sacred to the Bishnoi community, and the gang has repeatedly demanded that Khan apologise.
Since then, the threats have been escalating. Shots were fired outside Khan's home in 2024, and NCP leader Baba Siddique, who was close to the actor, was killed in the same year. In 2022, a threatening letter was sent to Khan's father, Salim Khan.
Police are now working to establish who gave the orders, and how the plan to target Khan changed.
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