The firing at Bollywood actor Tiger Shroff's car in Mumbai's Juhu area has taken a startling new turn. The Mumbai Crime Branch has revealed that Shroff was never the shooters' original target. According to investigators, the three men who opened fire on the actor's car on Sunday evening had initially planned to attack a different, high-profile Bollywood personality — and only switched to Shroff after deciding that their first target's security was too tight to breach.
The disclosure came on Wednesday, October 21, as the three arrested suspects were brought to Mumbai from Kota in Rajasthan, where they had been detained days after the attack. The Crime Branch's account has reframed the entire case: what first appeared to be a direct attempt on Shroff's life now looks like the backup plan of a much wider alleged plot to spread fear through the Hindi film industry.
"Tiger Shroff was not the shooters' original target. The three shooters were targeting a prominent Bollywood celebrity. However, the celebrity's security was so tight that the shooters were unable to target them," the Crime Branch said in its briefing.
Investigators alleged that the assailants subsequently selected Shroff as an alternative target, believing he would be easier to reach. Police have not disclosed the identity of the other celebrity, nor have they said why that individual was initially chosen.
The three accused — arrested in Kota and granted a 48-hour transit remand — were kept overnight at the Railway Colony Police Station before being transferred to Mumbai on Wednesday. After their arrival, they were taken for a medical examination and then brought to the Crime Branch's Anti-Extortion Cell office for interrogation.
Lawyer Ajinkya Mirgal Madhukar, who is representing the accused, told the news agency ANI that the suspects had undergone medical checks before being taken to the Crime Branch facility. "Inquiry is going on, and in the morning, they will be presented before the court," he said.
The firing itself took place at around 7 pm on Sunday, October 18, as Shroff was leaving a football club in Juhu after a match. The actor escaped unhurt, while his driver sustained injuries in the shooting. Other reports have identified a bystander as injured in the incident as well.
Sources familiar with the interrogation told NDTV that the three shooters — identified as Hrithik alias Roshan, 22, from Bihar, and Rehan, 18, and Phool Singh, 18, both from Haryana — arrived in Mumbai with a different high-profile individual in their sights. After surveying the areas frequented by that person, they concluded they would not be able to get close enough.
It was at that point, the sources said, that their attention turned to Shroff — after they learned, through reels posted by his fans on Instagram, that the actor does not move around with police protection.
The shooters then began monitoring the Instagram accounts of both Shroff and his fans, using posts, videos and reels to track his movements. According to investigators, they had surveyed the playground near the football club for around ten days and had even planned an attempt on October 11, but Shroff did not turn up that day.
On Sunday evening, they fired multiple rounds at Shroff's car as he was leaving after the match — sources said the men fired seven shots and intended to fire more, but a gun jammed. The actor and his driver managed to drive away.
Investigators allege that the intent behind the shooting went beyond a single target. According to sources cited by NDTV, the shooters have said their objective was to spread terror within Bollywood by killing Shroff. The Times of India reported that the Crime Branch is now examining whether the attack was part of a wider attempt to spread fear in the film industry.
The agency has been asked to review the security of potential targets and prepare a list of Bollywood personalities who may face threats. Salman Khan, Ranveer Singh, Rohit Shetty, Aamir Khan and Ayush Sharma are among those who have previously received threats, the report noted.
Hours after the shooting, the Lawrence Bishnoi gang took responsibility for the attack. In an audio clip released after the incident, a purported gang member identifying himself as Anil Pandit — who described himself as a younger brother to gangster Lawrence Bishnoi — said Shroff had been targeted because he was asked to end his association with actor Salman Khan but did not comply.
"What happened with Tiger Shroff today, we take responsibility for that," the man said in the clip, adding that Shroff "was counselled, but did not understand us."
Separately, Delhi Police's Special Cell has arrested four more people in what investigators describe as a weapon-supply and logistics module linked to the attack. The four — Kunal, 21, Sumit, 19, Radha, 23, and Babita, 23 — were produced before a court, which granted Mumbai Police three days' transit remand for them.
Investigators allege that Kunal collected a pistol and 20 rounds of ammunition from Amritsar on Anil Pandit's instructions and persuaded Radha to carry the weapon to Mumbai. Radha and Babita travelled from Delhi on October 15 and reached Mumbai's Dadar area on October 17. A minor boy allegedly collected the bag containing the weapon near their hotel.
Police are now investigating the alleged roles of the accused and their links to the shooters.
Meanwhile, Shroff's management has cautioned against fabricated statements, misleading social media posts and artificial intelligence-generated videos circulated in the actor's name following the incident. In a statement released on Tuesday, the team said the actor had not publicly commented on the firing or authorised anyone to issue statements on his behalf.
"We would like to categorically clarify that Tiger Shroff has made no statements, released no videos, and authorised no communication regarding the recent incident or any related developments," the statement said.
His representatives also warned that legal action could follow against individuals or social media pages responsible for creating or spreading fabricated material, and urged media organisations and digital platforms to verify information before publication and rely only on official communication.
The case has sent shockwaves through the film industry, raising difficult questions about how easily alleged assailants were able to track a major star through publicly posted social media content. The revelation that fan-posted reels helped the shooters identify both Shroff's routines and his lack of police protection has prompted a broader conversation about the security practices of public figures in an era when every public outing can be documented online by strangers.
The Crime Branch is continuing its investigation into the attack, including the circumstances in which the suspects allegedly changed their intended target. Officers are also expected to look more closely at the network behind the shooters — from the alleged handlers to the logistics chain that moved the weapon from Amritsar to Mumbai — and at whether other figures in the film industry may be at risk.
For now, the most unsettling takeaway from the probe is simple: the man who was shot at on Sunday evening may not have been the man the shooters came to Mumbai to kill.
(Reporting based on The Statesman, NDTV and The Times of India.)