New Delhi: The Delhi Police Special Cell has arrested two alleged shooters and says it foiled planned attacks on a prominent Delhi businessman and a well-known Bollywood actor, officials said on Saturday, November 14. One of the arrested men is also an accused in the October 3 murder of Instagram influencer Mad Sandhu in Amritsar, Punjab.

Source: IANS via Hi India

The arrested men were identified by police as Vikas Thakur alias Vicky, a resident of Jalandhar in Punjab, and Deep alias Deepak Singh, a resident of Tarn Taran in Punjab. Thakur was arrested in Delhi and Deepak was apprehended from Mumbai, where police say he had been hiding. The operation was carried out by teams led by Inspectors Pankaj Chauhan and Suresh Chand Chaudhary, under the supervision of ACP Vivek Tyagi.

Source: IANS via Hi India

The Delhi businessman plot

According to police, Thakur had travelled from Mumbai to Delhi to carry out a targeted, extortion-driven shooting of a prominent local businessman on the instructions of a foreign-based gangster, and Deepak was supposed to join him later. DCP Special Cell (New Delhi Range) Nara Chaitanya said Thakur had allegedly been assigned by a gangster operating from abroad to target the Delhi businessman as part of an extortion attempt, and that the Special Cell arrested him before the planned attack could take place. These are police allegations; neither man has been convicted of any offence in this case.

Source: Top Indian News

The Mad Sandhu murder link

Police allege that on October 3, Deepak, along with an associate identified as Palwinder alias Kaka, targeted and killed Instagram influencer Mad Sandhu in Amritsar on the instructions of the same fugitive foreign-based gangster. Palwinder was arrested by the Punjab Police, while Deepak fled to Mumbai and had been evading arrest since then. Top Indian News reported that Deepak, a Tarn Taran resident, had previously worked as a truck driver and helper.

Source: IANS via Hi India

Alleged Bollywood actor plot and the Mumbai hideout

Police allege Deepak was kept in Mumbai to help carry out a planned attack on a prominent A-category Bollywood actor, who was allegedly on the gang's target list over the actor's alleged remarks against the Sikh community concerning the 1984 events; the actor has not been named in official police communications. ANI reported that Deepak was staying in a rented house in Mumbai's Malad area and receiving money for daily expenses through QR codes belonging to vegetable vendors, paan shops and restaurants, and that he was allegedly in contact with foreign-based handlers through a private messaging application and had been told to keep changing hideouts. Police also said they suspect that shooters involved in a firing incident targeting actor Tiger Shroff had earlier conducted a recce of the same Bollywood actor's residence — a suspicion police say is still being investigated.

Source: ANI via Indian Economic Observer

Case registered, background claimed by police

A criminal case under Section 25 of the Arms Act has been registered at the Delhi Special Cell police station in connection with Thakur's arrest; Top Indian News reported the case number as FIR 261/2026, while IANS reported the FIR as dated November 3. Police further claim Thakur began his criminal activities in 2019 with a snatching incident and later became associated with criminal networks, allegedly arranging resources and recruiting members — again, police claims that remain to be tested in court. Police said the arrests helped prevent three alleged criminal plots and that further investigation is underway to establish the suspects' links with other members of the organised crime networks.

Source: Top Indian News