Mumbai, February 17 A special court on Tuesday extended the police custody of five accused, arrested in connection with the firing at the residence of Bollywood filmmaker Rohit Shetty here, until February 23.
Their further remand was required for a joint interrogation with those arrested later, police told the special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court.
So far, 12 persons have been arrested in the case, including the seven nabbed from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh on Sunday. The latter have been remanded in police custody until February 25.
Aditya Gayaki (19), Siddharth Yenpure (20), Samarth Pomaji (18), Swapnil Sakat (23) and Asaram Fasale were produced before special judge Mahesh Jadhav at the end of their previous remand.
Their custody was needed for a joint interrogation and also for tracing the money trail as well as the vehicle used in the crime, the police told the court.
Defence lawyer advocate Ajinkya Mirgal opposed the plea, saying that the investigating agency had had enough time to question them.
He added that physical custody of the accused was not required for finding out the money trail as the police had already seized their mobile phones.
The court, after hearing the arguments, extended the custody of the five accused until February 23.
At least five rounds were fired at the first floor of Shetty's nine-storey building in the Juhu area at 12.45 am on February 1. A bullet struck the glass of a gym inside the building.
Alleged shooter Deepak Sharma was among those arrested on Sunday. According to the police, the firing was carried out at the instructions of Shubham Lonkar, a member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, with the intention of causing harm to the filmmaker and instill fear. Lonkar is among the wanted accused in the case.