Mumbai, 5 Aug

One of the shooters who fired outside Bollywood superstar Salman Khan's Mumbai home in April has claimed to be inspired by "principles" followed by jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and on Monday sought bail in the case, saying his financial "debt" drove him to commit the alleged crime.

The accused, Vickykumar Gupta, stated that Lawrence Bishnoi has been wrongly named in the case and that he had no role to play in the shooting as alleged by the Mumbai police. He said the shooting's objective was to only scare Khan (58) for his alleged act of killing two blackbucks 26 years ago.

In the police chargesheet filed last month in a court here, Lawrence Bishnoi, his brother Anmol Bishnoi and key gang member Rohit Godhara were shown as ‘wanted accused’ in the case. Two motorbike borne-individuals -- Gupta and Sagar Pal -- had opened fire outside Khan's Galaxy Apartment in the upscale Bandra on April 14 morning and fled, according to the police.

The duo was later arrested from Gujarat for the shooting, which the police said, was a handiwork of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.

On Monday, Gupta, through his lawyers Amit Mishra, Sunil Mishra and Pankaj Ghildiyal, filed a bail application before a special court set up under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA Act). Special judge BD Shelke sought a response from the prosecution and adjourned the matter for arguments on 13 August.

The applicant (Gupta) was actually influenced by Lawrence Bishnoi's character from the electronic, print, social media and was "magnetically attached to the principles" followed by the jailed gangster who is an "ardent follower of (revolutionary) Bhagat Singh", said the bail plea.

Gupta stated that he hails from a poor background and lived in a remote village of Bihar and he was in debt, "which compelled the applicant to commit the crime".

As per the plea, the firing's objective was "to only give apprehension" to Khan with regards to the killing of two blackbucks, an animal worshiped by the Bishnoi community, in 1998 in Rajasthan as the actor did not apologize for his alleged act.

A court in Rajasthan had convicted Khan in the blackbuck poaching case, but he was later acquitted by the HC.

Gupta told the special court in Mumbai that Lawrence Bishnoi had no role to play in the firing episode. The accused claimed he neither received any call from Lawrence Bishnoi or any middle-man prodded him to talk to the gangster. "Lawrence Bishoni is getting entangled by the prosecution for the reasons best known to them," the bail plea said.

Seeking for bail after being in jail for more than three months, Gupta argued he does not pose a threat to public safety.