Mumbai: Nearly a week after two bullets were fired at two separate flats of an Andheri-based housing society, Oshiwara Police arrested actor Kamaal R Khan in the case on Saturday. Police recovered a German-made pistol and 21 rounds from the actor's bungalow in Versova.

The motive is still being probed. Police said Khan was checking the pistol believing that one round was left behind in it. However, Khan's lawyer, Nagesh Mishra, told mediapersons that the actor has not made any admission before the police.

The bullets were found inside the apartments of writer Neeraj Mishra and model Prateek Baid on the second and fourth floor of Nalanda society in Lokhandwala on January18. Impact marks were found on a plywood cabinet and walls. Nobody was injured.

After the police were informed, they studied CCTV footage but nobody was found entering or leaving the society. The guard said he hadn't heard sounds of gunfire. Police then took the help of forensic experts to find out what type of firearm did the bullets belong to. They then found out the firing range of such a weapon and checked which of the residents from the area had registered similar weapons.

The police team, supervised by additional commissioner Paramjeet Dahiya and DCP Dikshitkumar Gedam, and comprising senior inspector Sanjay Chavan and inspector Sachin Patil, took Khan into custody after confirming that the bullets came from his 7.65 mm Mauser. Police said Khan has a prior crime record.

Around 1 pm on Saturday, Khan was produced before a magistrate court in Bandra and remanded to police custody till January 27. Adv Mishra argued that Khan had no intention of firing. "The actor is not acquainted with either of the people (in whose houses the bullets were found). He has a licensed pistol that he has kept at home for self-defence," said advocate Mishra. The lawyer added that the range of a pistol is 20 metres but the bullets were found 400 metres away.

Between Khan's bungalow and Nalanda society, there are mangroves, roads and an under-construction structure.

Advocate Mishra has also claimed that the actor was not served a notice as required under Bhartiya Nagrik Suraksha Sanhita, nor were the grounds of arrest disclosed to him.

-------------------------------------

Oshiwara police used drones and forensic analysis to crack the mysterious firing at Nalanda building, with an aerial trajectory map flown from Kamal R Khan’s (KRK) MHADA bungalow confirming that the pellets were fired from his premises – a key breakthrough that led to his arrest, officers said.

According to police, the firing took place on January 18 between 12:00 pm and 12:30 pm, when Khan allegedly fired shots into the air. Officials said his pistol had seven rounds, and two pellets landed at the Nalanda Co-operative Housing Society – one at a director’s second-floor flat and the other at an actor’s fourth-floor residence.

Oshiwara police were informed about the incident at around 7:30 pm. Officers reached the building, collected the pellets found at the two residences, registered an FIR and launched an investigation.

With zero eyewitnesses and no immediate leads, investigators leaned heavily on technology. The case surfaced after director Neeraj Kumar Mishra alerted police to a bullet hole at his flat in the Nalanda building. Model Prateek Baid, who noticed police activity at the premises, handed over a “button-like” object found near the impact point, which forensics later confirmed was a pellet.

What initially baffled investigators was the angle of impact. “The shot appeared straight-range,” an officer said. “Moreover, the area adjacent to the building is an under-construction site with open ground and tin sheets, making a direct line of fire difficult to explain.”

On January 19, Oshiwara police and the crime branch remained puzzled as CCTV footage from the building did not capture anything suspicious, and there were no clear visual leads to identify the shooter.

Investigators first established that the pellets were fired from a .32 ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol) through technical and forensic analysis. Officers then matched the pellets’ velocity and range with data of licensed revolver holders in Oshiwara, which pointed them to Khan, police said.

To verify whether a .32 pistol could have fired pellets that reached Nalanda, police carried out trajectory mapping and assessed the weapon’s effective range, which they said is between 25 and 50 yards. A drone was then flown from Khan’s bungalow to map the line of fire and check for obstructions. The aerial assessment reportedly showed that pellets could reach the building without hindrance and that the bungalow fell within the effective shooting range.

Police also scrutinized CCTV footage from around Khan’s bungalow and claimed they detected firing sounds between 12 pm and 12.30 pm, further strengthening the link.

Khan was apprehended on January 23. Officials said they are awaiting ballistic and other forensic reports to make the case watertight.

“The drone survey helped us confirm there was no obstruction and that a pellet could indeed reach Nalanda,” an officer said, adding that the aerial mapping proved crucial to the investigation.

Khan denied wrongdoing. His lawyer, Nagesh Mishra, told Mumbai Mirror: “No notice or grounds of arrest were served. My client is innocent, and the police were misled.”

Police booked Khan under a non-bailable offence (Section 110, BNS) and secured custody till January 27 to probe the motive and rule out intent. “Given that those involved belong to the acting fraternity, we are verifying whether the act was deliberate or purely accidental,” an officer said.

Khan’s revolver licence is likely to be revoked following the incident, police said.