Mumbai: The Mumbai Crime Branch arrested a 22-year-old woman from Karnal district in Haryana on Sunday, taking the number of people held in the Tiger Shroff firing case to 13.
A press note issued by the Crime Branch on Monday said the woman was picked up on November 1 with help from local police. Investigators suspect she was part of the conspiracy behind the shooting. Police have not disclosed her identity or specified her alleged role.
The firing took place on the evening of October 18, when assailants opened fire near a football ground in Juhu as the actor was leaving the area. His driver and a bystander were injured. A case was registered at Juhu police station under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Arms Act, and the investigation was later transferred to the Crime Branch.
Since then the probe has spread well beyond Maharashtra. Suspects have been arrested from Kota in Rajasthan, Delhi and Sonipat in Haryana. Two women were among those arrested earlier in Delhi in connection with an alleged weapons supply network, which makes the Karnal accused the third woman held in the case.
The Crime Branch invoked the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act on October 27. All 11 people arrested at that stage were produced before a special MCOCA court, which permitted the Crime Branch to formally arrest them under the stringent law.
Investigators are also examining the alleged involvement of Anil Pandit, a gangster who is absconding and is believed to be associated with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, in the conspiracy. The latest arrest follows that of another accused from Sonipat, who was remanded in police custody until November 6.
The Juhu case is one of several this year in which Mumbai police have looked for a wider network behind an attack on a film personality rather than treating it as a local incident. Under MCOCA, the threshold for custody and for the trial changes substantially, which is why the Crime Branch sought the court's permission before formally arresting the 11 held earlier.
Police said the investigation is continuing to identify others who may have helped plan or carry out the attack.