FIR Registered in Tiger Shroff Firing Incident; Fadnavis Says, "Culprits Will Be Arrested"

The first photographs of Tiger Shroff since the firing show the actor with dressings on his shoulder and chest and a bandage on his right arm, as he met Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde at his home on Sunday night. Meanwhile, the Mumbai Police Crime Branch has taken its search into Gujarat after the attack outside a football club in Juhu. Investigators suspect trained shooters who had studied the actor’s movements carried it out.

THE FIRST PICTURES

The photographs from Shroff’s residence show the actor interacting with Shinde. Dressings are visible on his shoulder and chest, and his right arm is bandaged. Police say he escaped direct gunshot wounds, so the injuries on show appear to come from the attack on his car, though the reports do not say how each was caused.

Shinde went to the actor’s home late on Sunday to enquire after his well-being and assure the family of the state government’s support. Speaking to reporters afterwards, he called it “a major incident” in which five rounds were fired, and said it was fortunate the actor was safe. The driver was injured, he said, and the incident is condemnable.

Shinde said Shroff had injuries to his left hand caused by gunpowder and shards of glass, and that he and his mother were “quite shaken.” He said he had assured them that the state “stands with them in the face of the open threats being directed at public figures.”

“No form of threat will be tolerated,” he said, adding that gang wars had been common in the 1990s until the Mumbai Police put an end to them in 1995. “We will put an end to this hooliganism,” he said.

THE ATTACK

According to Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Mohit Garg, unidentified men opened fire as Shroff was leaving the club in his car at around 7 pm. Two people were injured, including the actor’s driver, who was reportedly hit by bullets.

An autorickshaw driver, Rakesh Kumar, told ANI he saw three men: one on a motorcycle and two standing outside, one near the gate and another slightly ahead of it. One of them fired from the front at the seat where Shroff was sitting, he said, while the man near the gate fired a shot that hit the driver in the hand.

THE RECCE AND THE ESCAPE

Sources told ANI the assailants worked from a pre-planned strategy based on surveillance of the actor’s weekly routine. They knew he regularly visited the Juhu football ground on Sundays and watched his movements so they could time the attack as he left in his car.

After the firing, the shooters allegedly took an escape route mapped in advance along SV Road through Vile Parle and Andheri. They abandoned their motorcycle near Andheri West railway station and boarded a train towards Borivali. Preliminary intelligence suggests they then crossed into Gujarat to evade the police. Three to four specialised Crime Branch teams are raiding suspected locations to trace them.

THE FIR

Police have registered a case against three unidentified individuals under Sections 109(1) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Sections 3 and 25 of the Arms Act. Efforts continue to identify the accused and to dismantle the network behind the attack.

‘THE ACTIONS OF COWARDS’

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis spoke at a press conference in Nagpur on Monday. “There is absolutely no reason to be afraid,” he said. “These are the actions of cowards. They hide away somewhere and use communication channels to issue threats.”

He said every threat is taken seriously, called the Mumbai Police “a professional force” that will not rest until such criminals are caught, and said the culprits would be found and arrested soon. He added that he had spoken to Shroff and assured him of adequate security.

With inputs from ANI