Mumbai: In a major embarrassment to the city crime branch, one of the alleged weapons suppliers in the actor Salman Khan home firing case, Anuj Thapan (32), was found dead in the lockup of the city police headquarters at Crawford Market a little after noon Wednesday.

A senior police officer said it is suspected that he died by suicide, but his family alleged foul play. Joint commissioner of police (crime) Lakhmi Gautam said the state CID will conduct an inquiry into the death.

The lockup, split across two floors of an old building on the premises, had 11 inmates, but crime branch officials said two of them—Vikas Gupta and Sagar Pal, who allegedly fired at Khan’s residence on April 14 — were taken away for interrogation on Wednesday. They were mum on why Thapan alone was left behind.

The second alleged guns supplier, Subhash Chander, is in judicial custody owing to an old injury. The building is covered by CCTV cameras.

It is the first case of custodial death inside the police HQ in recent years.

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Mumbai: The state CID will conduct an inquiry into the death of the alleged weapons supplier in Salman Khan home firing case, Anuj Thapan (32), in the Mumbai police headquarters’ lockup, said JCP (crime) Lakhmi Gautam.

Police said around 12.30 pm, an officer in charge of the lockup was conducting a routine check on the first floor when another inmate told him that Thapan hadn’t returned from the toilet. The officer found the toilet door ajar and discovered Thapan hanging from the window grille with a string wound around his neck. It is suspected that the string was pulled out of a rug and fashioned into a noose.

Thapan was rushed to GT Hospital, where doctors declared him dead. His body was sent to JJ Hospital for an autopsy. Late on Wednesday, police beefed up security at the lockup. Police registered an accidental death report, and later, CID officials conducted a panchnama and secured the CCTV footage from the site.

Thapan, who hails from Punjab and was nabbed from the state on April 24, was accused of supplying two country-made pistols and 40 cartridges, along with Subhash Chander, to Gupta and Pal in Mumbai on behalf of Anmol Bishnoi, the Canada-based cousin of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi. Alookout circular has been is sued against Anmol and police are hoping to gain custody of Lawrence from the Gujarat jail he is lodged in.

Police fear Thapan’s death could dilute the stringent MCOCA charge that was invoked on Monday after the case was transferred from crime branch unit 9 to ACP S Nade. For a MCOCA charge to hold, police need to show that an accused had been named in another chargesheet within the past 10 years. Thapan has been named in three unrelated offences in Punjab.

Police sources said they suspect that Thapan died by suicide because he was afraid that he would never be acquitted in a MCOCA case. His relatives called that bunkum. “Why would he kill himself? He was a healthy and hearty youngster working for a transporter. We suspect foul play,” one of them told TOI. 

Another source said Thapan wasn’t an amateur gangster and had survived being shot at by Punjab police in 2018. The family is likely to arrive in the city on Thursday to claim the body.

Advocate Vicky Sharma demanded a high-level inquiry into the death, and alleged that police could have tortured Thapan to quickly solve the high-profile case. “We will move HC to seek justice... Anuj Thapan had looked pale and scared when he was produced before the special MCOCA court on Monday.”

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Anuj Kumar Thapan, a 23-year-old resident of Punjab who was arrested by the Mumbai Crime Branch in connection with the firing case outside Bollywood actor Salman Khan’s residence, was found dead on Wednesday afternoon inside the Crime Branch lockup located at the Mumbai police’s headquarters at Crawford Market.

The Azad Maidan police have registered an Accidental Death Report (ADR) in the case, and the state CID is also investigating as the accused died in the Crime Branch’s custody.

The Crime Branch stated that since they had invoked MCOCA against the accused, he was depressed, knowing that it would be difficult to obtain bail in the next 10 years.

According to the Crime Branch, the incident occurred on Wednesday between 12 noon and 1 pm. The accused went to use the washroom on the first floor of the lockup and allegedly used a rope, suspected to have been torn from a mat inside the lockup. He used a bucket inside the bathroom, tied the rope to the small net windows, and then pushed the bucket.

“There were six accused of different cases inside the lockup and he too was there with them. When he went inside the washroom and didn’t return after some time, the other accused of a different case alerted the security guard who went inside the washroom and found him hanging,” an officer said.

The officials also stated that they were unsure if the rope used for hanging was from the mat provided to the accused inside the lockup. “The CID is going to investigate how he procured the material that was used for hanging,” an officer said.

“We have conducted our investigation, and we didn’t find evidence of foul play. As there is CCTV camera surveillance inside the lockup, his medical examination was also carried out according to the regulations before he hanged himself,” the officer added.

Thapan was rushed to the GT hospital where he was declared dead. The Crime Branch has informed his family and the post-mortem is likely to be conducted at JJ hospital in camera; the family will be kept in the loop at the time of the post-mortem. Thapan was arrested from Fazilka district of Punjab on April 26 for allegedly providing weapons to the accused who fired five rounds outside Salman’s residence on April 14.

Thapan’s role surfaced during the interrogation of the main accused Vicky Gupta and Sagar Pal. Thapan along with another accused, Sonu Kumar Bishnoi, provided the weapon to Pal and Gupta. According to sources, Thapan was a close associate of Lawrence Bishnoi and had three more cases against him, including another firing one. Before he was apprehended, he was working as a truck driver.

The official said that he was cooperating during the investigation and provided some information about Bishnoi since he was booked under MCOCA. “He knew that procuring bail under MCOCA is very difficult and he was going to spend his life inside the prison. He sounded a little depressed and had discussed it with other inmates as well,” said an officer.