Mumbai: The Mumbai crime branch on Monday recovered from Tapi river in Surat a pistol purportedly belonging to the two alleged shooters who targeted actor Salman Khan’s home on April 14. The search continues for a second gun.

The alleged shooters, Vikas Kumar Gupta and Sagar Kumar Pal, had a pistol each, but one of them couldn’t fire at all since he had to ride the getaway bike, a senior police official said. During their interrogation, the two men, who were arrested from Bhuj last Tuesday, claimed to have thrown both the pistols into the Tapi river near Surat. It was initially believed that they had only one country-made pistol.

Two crime branch teams were then sent to Surat to look for the weapons.

Gupta and Pal, who hail from Bihar, have told police they had carried out the firing at the actor’s house at the behest of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi to make a quick buck. Pal claimed that the notoriety from the case would earn him a place in a big gang.

Police are likely to approach court to seek Lawrence’s custody from Tihar jail and issue a lookout circular against his Canada-based brother Anmol Bishnoi, who had allegedly recruited the two shooters and claimed responsibility for the firing through social media.