Mumbai: Kapil Pandit, one of the arrested accused in singer Sidhu Moose Wala’s murder case, told Mumbai crime branch that in February 2019, they had conducted a recee of actor Salman Khan’s farmhouse in Panvel and had planned to kill him at a public function in Alibaug. Khan, however, cancelled the programme. Pandit is an alleged henchman of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi.

A senior officer of Mumbai Police said they have enhanced the actor’s security.

Last week, a team from the Mumbai Police’s crime branch questioned Pandit, who is believed to have said that they had planned to waylay Salman’s car in Panvel. Pandit also said that they had procured three weapons to kill the actor. Later, they tried to befriend a security guard at the farmhouse posing as fans and tried to extract information about the actor.

Pandit has given the names of four men, including himself and Santosh Jadhav, who rented a house in Karjat and Palghar. They stayed in Palghar for two months and one month in Karjat to record the frequency of Salman’s visits and other details.

Pandit is in the custody of Punjab police. Mumbai Police will seek his custody in this case, an officer said.

Police said that they will add the Indian Penal Code sections of attempt to murder and conspiracy and are also likely to invoke the stringent act of Maharashtra Control of Organsied Crime (MCOCA) Act as it falls under the definition of organized crime.

Mumbai crime branch is probing the case involving a threat letter received by Salman’s father Salim Khan during his morning walk at Bandra Bandstand in June. The letter stated: “Salim Khan, Salman Khan bahot jald aapka Moosel Wala hoga . . . (Salim Khan, Salman Khan, very soon you will meet Moosewala’ s fate. )”

A six-man squad had gunned down Moose Wala in Punjab on May 29. Pandit and Rajinder Joker allegedly provided logistical support and weapons to the shooter s. Bishnoi’s gang was looking to target Salman before Moose Wala over his involvement in the blackbuck poaching case, said officials.

Rajasthan’s Bishnoi community is extremely protective of the species. In 2018, Bishnoi had sent his aide Sampat Nehra to attack Salman at his Bandra residence. Nehra was later arrested in Bengaluru.