Salman Khan firing case: Cops to take handwriting samples of 4 accused

A special court in Mumbai has directed the four accused arrested for firing outside Salman Khan’s residence to provide specimen handwriting samples to the Anti-Extortion Cell (AEC) of the city crime branch which is investigating a 2022 case of threat to the Bollywood actor’s father, Salim Khan.
The four accused, Vicky Kumar Gupta, Sagar Pal, Mohammad Choudhari and Harpal Singh, allegedly opened fire outside Salman Khan’s Galary Apartment in Bandra West. Two of the accused are alleged to have fired outside the actor’s residence on April 14, 2024.
“Court is of the view that it is expedient to direct the accused to give specimen handwriting to the investigating agency for the purpose of comparison and verification of handwriting in the chit with specimen handwriting of these accused,” the court said.
On June 5, 2022, Salim Khan was out for a morning walk in the Bandstand area near his Bandra residence. Khan’s bodyguard discovered a handwritten note on a bench with a message: “Salim Khan, Salman Khan bahut jald aapka Moosewala hoga K G.B.L.B. (you will soon become like Moosewala)”, a reference to the May 2022 murder of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala, allegedly orchestrated by the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.
The AEC had previously filed an application requesting permission from the special court to obtain handwriting specimens from the arrested suspects in the 2024 shooting incident. Investigators are keen to determine if members of the Bishnoi gang, arrested in the 2024 firing, were also responsible for the threatening note found in 2022.
Special Public Prosecutor Wajeed Shaikh, representing the prosecution, argued that obtaining the handwriting samples was crucial for the investigation and the comparison of handwriting from the two cases.
However, the defense lawyers, Amit Mishra and Pravin Pande, strongly objected to the request, asserting that since the charge sheet had already been filed, there was no necessity for the handwriting samples. They urged the court to reject the application.
The four accused are currently lodged in Taloja Central Prison in Navi Mumbai, where their handwriting specimens will be collected.