Kamal Ghorui
There was firing outside Rohit Shetty‘s home on February 1. While the filmmaker and his family were safe, investigations began immediately. As per the latest update, the Mumbai Crime Branch has detained the 14th accused in the case from Uttar Pradesh today, on March 21. ANI has quoted the Mumbai police saying, “The 14th accused, Golu Pandit, has been detained in UP by the Mumbai Crime Branch team with the help of the UP STF. He is being brought to Mumbai and will be produced in Court tomorrow.” Earlier, the five accused were presented before a special court under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) on Wednesday, where the Mumbai Police confirmed invoking stringent provisions of the law, indicating a suspected organised crime syndicate behind the attack. The court subsequently remanded all five to police custody until February 17.Reacting to the development, defence advocate Ajinkya Mirgal said, “MCOCA has been added today…They( police) said in the court that the weapon recovered from accused number one, Sakat, was given to him by Praveen Lonkar, who is involved in the Baba Siddique murder case and has been in jail for one and a half years. We stated that he has been in jail for a year and a half. When and how did he get the weapon? This possibility seems a little doubtful to us.“The arrests stem from a February 1 incident, when Mumbai Police detained four individuals soon after unidentified assailants fired four rounds outside Shetty’s residence. All four were initially placed in police custody. A fifth accused was apprehended on February 5 and later produced before the court alongside the others.Following the hearing, the judge ordered their custody with the police until February 11, 2026, highlighting the gravity of the offence and the existence of a larger criminal conspiracy. The court also underscored the need for an extensive probe and joint interrogation while granting custody of all five accused.During proceedings, police informed the court that a social media post had claimed responsibility for the attack. Investigators further revealed that the accused allegedly used the Signal app to communicate discreetly and are now attempting to retrieve deleted chats linked to Shubham Lonkar. The police sought maximum custody for the four earlier accused, along with 10 days’ custody for the fifth accused, Asaram Fasle alias Babu.
