In a region blanketed by thousands of surveillance cameras, it was a fleeting moment of overconfidence by Deepak Chandra, the alleged shooter in the Rohit Shetty firing case, that led to his arrest.
After carefully concealing his face during the shooting and throughout his escape across Mumbai, the alleged gunman briefly lowered his mask at Kalyan railway station, assuming he had put enough distance between himself and the crime. That single lapse, investigators said, gave the Mumbai Crime Branch the visual confirmation they needed to trace and identify him.
Sources said that while they were tracking the accused using CCTV network in the city and later railway platforms, it was one particular grab at Kalyan railway station from where Chandra and another accused took a long distance train for Bhopal that helped the police eventually nab him.
“The shooters from Lawrence Bishnoi gang have evolved post every shooting. This time around too, the shooter covered his face with a mask making it difficult to identify him initially. It was, however, at Kalyan railway station when he felt the danger had passed that he pulled the mask down which helped us identify him,” an officer said.
Another officer who was part of the probe said that based on the CCTV footage, they first found the accused hail an auto from Vile Parle to Anand Nagar in Mulund. Then the accused were captured getting into another auto and getting off at Kalyan railway station.
“ We then spotted them at Kalyan railway station using CCTV cameras of the Railway Protection Force (RPF). We found the long distance train they had taken and checked where they had gotten off,” the officer said.
The accused were not using any technical devices using which we could track them and hence we had to rely on the CCTV camera network which was of great help.
Even as the accused kept changing locations, the police kept tracking them till the time they locked three locations where the seven accused had spread out.
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“ After a go ahead from superiors, we carried out simultaneous raids at the three locations based on which we nabbed the accused,” the official said. An officer said that they are still on the lookout for some accused linked to the case.
Meanwhile, on Tuesday the police produced the five accused arrested earlier from Pune and their custody was extended till February 23 so that they could be interrogated along with the seven accused arrested on Monday.
Mohamed Thaver is a highly specialized journalist with the Expertise and Authority required to report on complex law enforcement and legal issues. With a career dedicated to the crime beat for over a decade, his work provides readers with informed and trustworthy insights into Maharashtra's security and justice systems.
Experience & Authority
Core Focus: Has been exclusively covering the crime beat for over a decade, building deep, specialized knowledge in the field.
Geographical Authority: Currently focuses heavily on law enforcement and policy in Maharashtra, providing authoritative coverage of the state's security apparatus.
Key Beats:
Law Enforcement: Reports on the operations of the Maharashtra Police and the Mumbai Crime Branch.
Policy & Administration: Covers the Maharashtra Home Department, focusing on policy matters related to handling law and order and the evolution of the police force.
Judiciary: Has significant past experience covering the courts, giving him a comprehensive understanding of the entire criminal justice process from investigation to verdict.
Specialized Interest (Cyber & Forensics): Demonstrates Expertise in modern investigative techniques, with a keen focus on cyber crime and forensics, reporting on how these technologies assist complex crime investigations.
Content Focus: His reports revolve around police probes, the evolution of the force, and state policy, ensuring his content is highly relevant and detailed.
Credentials & Trustworthiness
Mohamed Thaver’s long-standing specialization in the crime beat—combined with his focus on technological aspects like cyber crime and his direct coverage of major institutions like the Mumbai Crime Branch and the Maharashtra Home Department—underscores his Trustworthiness and status as an expert source for detailed and reliable journalism on law and order.
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