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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 8:56:24 pm

Accused trio get 10-day remand

Mumbai: A Mumbai Court has given 10 days police custody to three arrested accused in the firing on Bollywood action star Tiger Shroff in a crowded public place as the investigators attempt to unravel the conspiracy, motives, involvement of other players and related aspects of the sensational case, on Wednesday. The accused trio Rehan alias Sukka, and Phool Singh both from Sonipat in Haryana and Rhitik Kurmi alias Roshan, originally from Begusarai in Bihar but currently residing in Mumbai,...

Accused trio get 10-day remand

Mumbai: A Mumbai Court has given 10 days police custody to three arrested accused in the firing on Bollywood action star Tiger Shroff in a crowded public place as the investigators attempt to unravel the conspiracy, motives, involvement of other players and related aspects of the sensational case, on Wednesday. The accused trio Rehan alias Sukka, and Phool Singh both from Sonipat in Haryana and Rhitik Kurmi alias Roshan, originally from Begusarai in Bihar but currently residing in Mumbai, were brought here from Kota in separate vehicles early today. They were produced before the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate at Esplanade Court where the police sought 14 days’ custody for the accused who are allegedly acting at the behest of the jailed mafia chief Lawrence Bishnoi’s gang. Pleading for the remand, the police lawyers argued that sustained custodial interrogation was necessary to recover the weapons used in the shooting – which the accused had thrown away while fleeing, retrieve two mobile phones which were reportedly destroyed by the accused, besides digging out the entire conspiracy, pinpoint the exact motives and identify other persons involved in the brazen attack. Opposing the plea, the accused’s lawyers Ajinkya Mirgal and Satyabrat Joshi argued that police custody was unnecessary, particularly for recovering the weapons. Mirgal and Joshi later told mediapersons that the accused had already been interrogated at a railway colony during their transit-remand period and were produced before the CMM Court just minutes before the transit remand expired this afternoon. After hearing both sides, the CMM remanded them to police custody for 10 days till October 31. It may be recalled that Shroff, 36, was targeted on the evening of October 18 near Pushpa Narsee Park in Juhu. Despite being a heavily crowded area, the assailants were seen firing at least 5-6 rounds at the actor’s car before fleeing on a motorcycle. A shaken Shroff escaped relatively unhurt, sustaining minor bruises, but his driver and a bystander suffered injuries. Following the incident, the Mumbai Police registered a case of attempted murder and offences under the Arms Act, and launched an interstate investigation involving Maharashtra, Haryana, Rajasthan, and later Gujarat and Delhi. The Mumbai Police formed 20 teams to hunt down the attackers, recovered the second-hand motorcycle outside Andheri station where it was abandoned and tracked their journey through different modes of transport from Mumbai to Surat and Kota. Acting on a tech-intel alert from Mumbai Police, the Kota Police lay in wait for them and apprehended them from the general coach of the Pune-Jaipur Superfast Express on Monday morning. Initial probe revealed that the assailants were planning to flee the country after travelling to the borders via Jaipur and Delhi. They were lured by the promise of sneaking them out of India to a foreign country, possibly Canada and rehabilitating them. Three key accused brought to Mumbai from Kota Three key accused apprehended in connection with the firing at actor Tiger Shroff’s car were brought to Mumbai from Kota in Rajasthan early on Wednesday, police said. Police brought them by road from Kota to Mumbai and, upon arrival, immediately took them to GT Hospital for a mandatory medical examination, an official said. Following the medical check-up, the accused were escorted to the Mumbai Crime Branch’s Anti-Extortion Cell (AEC) office for interrogation. The accused have been identified as Rehan alias Sukka, from Sonipat in Haryana; Ritik Kurmi alias Roshan, originally from Begusarai in Bihar and living in Mumbai; and Phool Singh from Haryana, the official said. The Kota city police had handed them over to Mumbai Police, which formally arrested them and produced them before a magistrate there. The court granted transit remand to take them to Mumbai. Meanwhile, advocate Ajinkya Mirgal arrived at the AEC office in Mumbai on Wednesday morning, informing officials that he would represent the accused as their defence counsel in the case. At least two men fired gunshots at Shroff’s car in Mumbai’s Juhu area on Sunday evening before speeding away on a motorcycle. The actor escaped relatively unhurt, while his driver and a bystander were injured. According to Mumbai Police, five to six rounds were fired at the car. A motorcycle, allegedly used by the shooters, was found abandoned in Andheri. The accused fled to Surat and once there, boarded a Jaipur-bound train. The three were supposed to go to Delhi on a bus and then flee to Nepal. The Mumbai Police have registered a case under the provisions of attempt to murder and the Arms Act. According to the police, Rehan was in touch with Anil Pandit, an alleged associate of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, which claimed responsibility for the attack in an unverified social media post. On Tuesday, the Delhi Police Special Cell arrested four more persons, including two women, in connection with the firing case. Police suspect they were acting on the directions of Anil Pandit, a gangster operating from abroad, an official earlier said. The four accused, identified as Kunal (21), Sumit (19), Radha (23), and Babita (23), were apprehended from Delhi and Haryana. According to police, Kunal allegedly collected a pistol and 20 rounds from Amritsar on the instructions of Anil Pandit, with Sumit accompanying him. Radha and Babita allegedly travelled to Mumbai with the weapon. Following the arrest, the police said the motive of the shooting was being ascertained, while the way Shroff was attacked, the assailants planned to kill him.

The Meteoric Rise and Spectacular Free-Fall of Prithvi Shaw

Writer: Waleed Hussain
Waleed Hussain
Aug 2
3 min read

Remember Prithvi Shaw? Of course you do. The boy wonder. The U-19 World Cup-winning captain. The youngest Indian to smash a Test century on debut, a tidy 134 against West Indies at the tender age of 18 years and 319 days. Back in 2018, the cricket world collectively clutched its pearls and declared the next big thing had arrived. Fast forward to 2026, and that next big thing is currently the next big afterthought. How delightful.


Let us start with the international CV, because nothing says “demise” quite like numbers that have gathered more dust than a museum exhibit. Five Tests. Three hundred and thirty-nine runs at an average of 42.37. One century, two fifties. Last appearance: December 2020 against Australia. That is more than five years of radio silence from the national selectors. Apparently the boys in blue decided that one century and a couple of half-centuries were quite enough, thank you. Why dilute the magic by asking him to play again?


Then come the ODIs. A grand total of six matches. One hundred and eighty-nine runs at 31.50. Highest score: a majestic 49. Zero fifties. Last outing: July 2021 against Sri Lanka. Six games, no half-century, and the selectors looked at that body of work and said, “Yep, we’re good.” One T20I. Zero runs off one ball. Debut, farewell, and career summary all wrapped into a single delivery. Efficiency at its finest. Three formats, twelve international matches in total after that dazzling start, and the demand for his services has been roughly equivalent to the demand for a rotary phone in 2026.


Real Money

Now to the IPL, where the real money and the real judgments are made. Seventy-nine matches for Delhi Capitals. 1,892 runs at an average of 23.95 and a strike rate of 147.47. Fourteen fifties. Highest score: 99. Almost a hundred. Almost. The 2021 season remains the highlight reel they keep replaying in boardrooms: 479 runs at nearly 32 and a strike rate north of 159. That was the peak. Everything since has been a controlled descent into “maybe next year.” In 2023 he managed 106 runs in eight innings at 13.25. In 2024, 198 in eight at 24.75. Released. Unsold in the 2025 mega auction. Then, in a touching display of residual loyalty (or residual desperation), Delhi Capitals picked him up again in the 2026 accelerated auction for a princely ₹75 lakh. Base price. The market had spoken, and it had spoken in the universal language of silence until the very last possible moment.


Domestic cricket has been no kinder in the narrative sense. Dropped by Mumbai over fitness concerns (body-fat percentages that would make a club cricketer blush, according to the whispers), he took the scenic route to Maharashtra. There have been runs — a double hundred here, some half-centuries there — but the broader market remains unmoved. Franchises and national selectors appear to have reached a bipartisan consensus: the talent is still there in flashes, the discipline and consistency are not. Fitness issues, distractions, “wrong friends,” lost focus — Shaw has been admirably open about the off-field drift. The problem is that openness does not score runs in the middle, and selectors have long memories when the numbers refuse to improve.


Road Ahead

So where does the road ahead lead for a 26-year-old who once looked destined for a decade of Indian caps? Realistically, it leads through more domestic grind, the occasional IPL contract at bargain rates if a franchise feels nostalgic, and the faint hope that one blistering Ranji or SMAT season forces a reluctant recall. International cricket in all three formats currently has zero demand for him. The opening slots are occupied by players who show up, stay fit, and convert starts. Shaw’s Test average looks respectable until you notice the sample size and the five-year gap. His ODI and T20I records are punchlines. His IPL average of under 24 across nearly 80 games is the sort of number that makes auction tables go quiet.


The sarcasm writes itself because the trajectory is almost too perfect. From prodigy to peripheral in the time it takes most players to establish themselves. The same aggressive intent that produced that debut hundred and those powerplay fireworks now collides with the modern game’s demand for reliability, conditioning, and mental longevity. Shaw still hits the ball hard when the mood takes him. The trouble is that moods are not contracts, and contracts are not national call-ups.


(The writer is a senior journalist based in Mumbai. Views personal.)

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