# Tiger Shroff firing row, Mumbai's salty groundwater, and FIR over social media posts

An episode of [3 Things](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1406730235), 21 Oct 2026, 36 min.

Audio: https://dts.podtrac.com/redirect.mp3/api.spreaker.com/download/episode/75885513/3_things_2026_october_21_v1.mp3

First, we speak to The Indian Express’ Mohamed Thaver about the shooting targeting actor Tiger Shroff, the alleged links to organised crime networks, and whether the attack signals the return of an extortion model that once terrorised Bollywood. Next, we speak to The Indian Express’ Nayonika Bose about a study finding that 35 per cent of Mumbai is vulnerable to seawater intrusion, what this could mean for the city’s groundwater and the measures proposed to contain the threat. (18:20) And in the end, we look at the FIR filed in Uttarakhand over social media posts questioning the government’s investment claims, and the political dispute surrounding the outcomes of the 2023 Global Investors Summit. (32:25) Hosted by Ichha Sharma Produced and written by Niharika Nanda and Ichha Sharma Edited and mixed by Suresh Pawar

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: In today's episode, we look at Mumbai, where a new
[0:03] Speaker 1: study has found that large parts of the city are
[0:07] Speaker 1: vulnerable to seawater intrusion into groundwater reserves. We also talk
[0:11] Speaker 1: about Uttarakhand, where an FIR over social media posts questioning
[0:15] Speaker 1: the government's investment claims has sparked a fresh political controversy.
[0:21] Speaker 1: But first, we talk about the shooting targeting Bollywood actor
[0:25] Speaker 1: Tiger Shroff that has raised fresh concerns about the growing
[0:29] Speaker 1: threat of organized crime and extortion in the Hindi film industry.
[0:46] Speaker 1: On Sunday evening, Shroff was leaving Pushpa Narsi Park in
[0:50] Speaker 1: Juhu after his regular football game when three men allegedly
[0:54] Speaker 1: opened fire at his car. Five rounds were fired. Shroff
[0:58] Speaker 1: escaped with minor injuries, but his driver, Firdaus Ibrahim Baluch,
[1:03] Speaker 1: who has worked with his family for 28 years, was
[1:06] Speaker 1: shot in the hand. alongside a bystander, Umesh Chauhan, who
[1:10] Speaker 1: had been filming the actor, was hit by a bullet
[1:13] Speaker 1: and remains in intensive care. And investigators believe the attack
[1:18] Speaker 1: had been planned well in advance. Meanwhile, a US-based gangster,
[1:22] Speaker 1: Anil Pandit, has claimed responsibility for the shooting and indicated
[1:27] Speaker 1: links to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.
[1:29] Speaker 2: Yeah, so in the investigation so far, what they've found
[1:33] Speaker 2: is that the three shooters, alleged shooters who've been arrested now,
[1:37] Speaker 2: they were waiting outside the ground where Tiger Shroff usually
[1:41] Speaker 2: goes to play football on the weekends.
[1:44] Speaker 1: That's The Indian Express's Mohammad Tawir, who has been reporting
[1:47] Speaker 1: on the story for the newspaper.
[1:49] Speaker 2: So one of the three alleged shooters, one is a biker.
[1:53] Speaker 2: His job is just to, you know, he does not shoot.
[1:55] Speaker 2: Of the three, only two shoot. One of them is
[1:57] Speaker 2: riding a bike. So he comes with a bike near
[2:00] Speaker 2: the car. Two of them shoot seven rounds of which
[2:04] Speaker 2: actually five rounds hit the vehicle and two empties just
[2:08] Speaker 2: fall on the ground and then they flee from the spot.
[2:12] Speaker 2: So basically in the shootout, luckily what happens is that,
[2:16] Speaker 2: you know, the second shooter who was using a country pistol,
[2:19] Speaker 2: his firearm jams because of which those two empties land there,
[2:23] Speaker 2: but he's not able to kind of shoot at the guy.
[2:26] Speaker 2: And then Tiger's driver sustains injuries to his hand and
[2:31] Speaker 2: another weekend vlogger also suffered from a bullet wound. Then
[2:34] Speaker 2: Tiger kind of comes to the driver's side and drives
[2:37] Speaker 2: off from there.
[2:38] Speaker 3: And then in the.
[2:38] Speaker 2: Footage, one could see that these three kind of zoom
[2:42] Speaker 2: off from the spot on the bike.
[2:44] Speaker 1: Now, what followed next was a police chase spanning nearly 1,000 kilometres.
[2:49] Speaker 1: Mohammed says that the suspects fled Mumbai, travelling by motorcycle,
[2:53] Speaker 1: train and taxi, before eventually boarding another train towards Rajasthan.
[2:59] Speaker 2: See, the good part is that Mumbai has a very
[3:02] Speaker 2: dense CCTV camera network. So immediately in the Juhu area
[3:05] Speaker 2: where the incident took place, they start going through the
[3:07] Speaker 2: CCTV footage and they identify these three people going on
[3:11] Speaker 2: the bike. They track them through the CCTV network till
[3:14] Speaker 2: Andheri station. Through the railway cameras, they find that they
[3:20] Speaker 2: have taken a train for Borivali towards the northern suburbs
[3:25] Speaker 2: of the city. Again, they keep changing their modes of transport.
[3:28] Speaker 2: So once they reach Borivali, they get off at Borivali,
[3:31] Speaker 2: they come out of the station.
[3:33] Speaker 3: Now all of this is being seen through the cameras.
[3:36] Speaker 2: And from there, they kind of use a cab aggregator
[3:39] Speaker 2: service to book a cab to Surat. Now, police say
[3:43] Speaker 2: that they, instead of taking a train to Gujarat, they
[3:46] Speaker 2: took a cab because they just wanted to keep changing
[3:48] Speaker 2: their modes of transport.
[3:49] Speaker 3: So they book the cab.
[3:50] Speaker 2: And the next thing that happens turns out to be
[3:52] Speaker 2: the big clue for the cops. Because what happens is,
[3:55] Speaker 2: as usual, when you book a cab aggregator, the location,
[3:57] Speaker 2: sometimes they are not able to track the location.
[3:59] Speaker 3: They come to the location.
[4:01] Speaker 2: So the guys who had their phone switched off, one
[4:03] Speaker 2: of them, after booking this, he makes the first call
[4:06] Speaker 2: to the cabbie to explain the location. They sit in
[4:08] Speaker 2: the cab and they go up to Surat. And then
[4:11] Speaker 2: from Surat, they take the Pune-Jaipur train and they are
[4:14] Speaker 2: eventually arrested in Kota. Now, when the police was investigating
[4:17] Speaker 2: the matter, so they had a number of the accused.
[4:19] Speaker 2: They called up the Surat cabbie and he told them
[4:21] Speaker 2: that I have dropped them off at the Surat bus stand.
[4:25] Speaker 2: So the police then kind of check the footages at
[4:27] Speaker 2: the Surat bus stand. They see these three guys. They
[4:30] Speaker 2: see that they're loitering around there for quite a while.
[4:32] Speaker 2: They're waiting for a bus. But since no bus comes
[4:35] Speaker 2: for a while, they can see them walk to the
[4:37] Speaker 2: nearest railway station. And then from the railway station footage,
[4:39] Speaker 2: they see that these three have gotten into the Pune
[4:42] Speaker 2: Jaipur Express. And they know that the next stop on
[4:46] Speaker 2: the train is Kota Junction. And hence they call it
[4:49] Speaker 2: the Kota SP. They say that this is the train,
[4:51] Speaker 2: this is the coach. And these are the three guys
[4:53] Speaker 2: whom we need to arrest. And that's how those three
[4:55] Speaker 2: are arrested from Kota station.
[4:57] Speaker 1: And Mohamad, could you give us an idea about how
[5:00] Speaker 1: narrowly did Tiger escape serious injury? And what do we
[5:03] Speaker 1: know about the condition of his driver and the bystander
[5:06] Speaker 1: who was caught in the firing? Yeah.
[5:08] Speaker 2: So, what happened is... When one of the guys fired
[5:11] Speaker 2: the firearms... That hit the driver... And Tiger managed to...
[5:16] Speaker 2: The bullet passed from right in front of him... He
[5:18] Speaker 2: just pushed himself behind... And kind of managed to save himself... So, see...
[5:22] Speaker 2: The first weapon was a sophisticated weapon... And it fired well...
[5:26] Speaker 2: The second was a country pistol... Now, the country pistols
[5:28] Speaker 2: in that sense... unknown to get jammed. So if that
[5:31] Speaker 2: too had been a sophisticated weapon, the police believe that
[5:34] Speaker 2: Tiger would have been in trouble because then, you know,
[5:37] Speaker 2: a few more rounds and the shooters would have been
[5:39] Speaker 2: very close to Tiger and there was a real threat
[5:42] Speaker 2: to his life.
[5:42] Speaker 3: So in that sense, he's.
[5:43] Speaker 2: Lucky that the second firearm jammed and the driver sustained
[5:47] Speaker 2: injuries to his hand, but he was out of danger.
[5:50] Speaker 2: The most serious injuries were suffered by the weekend vlogger
[5:54] Speaker 2: who was there because he got a bullet wound on
[5:57] Speaker 2: his chest.
[5:57] Speaker 3: He was taken to the hospital and now he's said
[6:00] Speaker 3: to be out of danger.
[6:01] Speaker 2: So in terms of the nature of the injuries, I
[6:03] Speaker 2: think now everybody is out of danger in that sense.
[6:06] Speaker 3: So there's been no fatal incident.
[6:09] Speaker 1: Right. And as you mentioned earlier that the Mumbai police
[6:11] Speaker 1: have identified the fairly young men accused of carrying out
[6:15] Speaker 1: this attack. So what do we know about their backgrounds
[6:18] Speaker 1: and the different roles police believe they played?
[6:21] Speaker 3: Yeah, so see, more details are coming forth.
[6:24] Speaker 2: See, the attack has the typical signature of the Lawrence
[6:27] Speaker 2: Bishnoi gang. The first being that within minutes of the
[6:30] Speaker 2: attack taking place, they will claim responsibility on a screenshot
[6:34] Speaker 2: and an audio note that they will send to various
[6:37] Speaker 2: media channels and everything. Earlier, they would just put up
[6:39] Speaker 2: a post on social media, but the police would then
[6:42] Speaker 2: be able to track them down through the IP address sometimes,
[6:44] Speaker 2: although they did use VPN.
[6:46] Speaker 3: But just to eliminate that.
[6:47] Speaker 2: Angle of investigation entirely, what they do is they create
[6:49] Speaker 2: a Facebook account, they will put up the threat, they
[6:52] Speaker 2: will take a screenshot, they will delete their.
[6:54] Speaker 3: Account, and then they will share this screenshot. So this
[6:56] Speaker 3: was one.
[6:57] Speaker 2: The kind of firearm, sophisticated Turkish-made firearm that was used
[7:00] Speaker 2: is again a signature of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.
[7:03] Speaker 3: Coming back to your question, the third being the use
[7:04] Speaker 3: of youngsters.
[7:06] Speaker 2: Unlike Dawood Chhotarajan in the 90s who had these specific
[7:10] Speaker 2: sharpshooters that were affiliated to their gang with the Lawrence
[7:13] Speaker 2: Bishnoi gang, Usually, you know, uses youngsters mostly from North
[7:17] Speaker 2: Indian states. The Bishnoi gang is kind of quite popular
[7:20] Speaker 2: on social media platforms, especially in North India. So a
[7:23] Speaker 2: lot of youngsters, in fact, you know, agencies tell us
[7:26] Speaker 2: that a lot of youngsters directly message them that, you know,
[7:29] Speaker 2: we want to work for y'all and things like that.
[7:31] Speaker 2: So even in this case, if you see the age
[7:33] Speaker 2: of the three accused are 18, 18 and 22.
[7:36] Speaker 3: So typical youngsters.
[7:38] Speaker 2: So far, the police has not gotten their custody, but
[7:41] Speaker 2: they do believe that, you know, like in most cases,
[7:43] Speaker 2: they suspect year two, it would be through social media
[7:45] Speaker 2: platforms that they would have gotten in touch with the
[7:48] Speaker 2: Bishnoi gang. So two of the accused, are from Haryana,
[7:51] Speaker 2: which is one of the hotbeds of where the Bishnoi
[7:53] Speaker 2: gang operates.
[7:54] Speaker 3: The third is from Begusarai, Bihar.
[7:56] Speaker 2: But he had also in the past gone to Delhi
[7:58] Speaker 2: and was in touch with somebody the police believe to
[8:01] Speaker 2: be a member of the Bishnoi gang. So all in all,
[8:03] Speaker 2: you know, this attack has all the typical signatures of
[8:05] Speaker 2: an attack carried out by the Bishnoi gang. And the
[8:08] Speaker 2: use of youngsters in that sense is quite atypical when
[8:11] Speaker 2: it comes.
[8:11] Speaker 3: To the gang.
[8:12] Speaker 1: And Mohamad, alongside what you said about claims linking this
[8:16] Speaker 1: shooting to the Lawrence Bishnoi network, Anil Pandit, a US-based
[8:20] Speaker 1: gangster's name, has also emerged during the investigation.
[8:24] Speaker 4: So what do we actually know about his alleged role?
[8:27] Speaker 3: Yes, there are two parts to it.
[8:28] Speaker 2: The first is that Lawrence Bishnoi and Anmol Bishnoi both
[8:32] Speaker 2: are behind bars. Now that again is the surprising part
[8:35] Speaker 2: about the case. Like again, comparing to the 90s, like
[8:38] Speaker 2: back in the 90s, you had a Dawood who would
[8:40] Speaker 2: operate from Dubai.
[8:42] Speaker 3: You had a Chota Rajan who would operate from Thailand
[8:44] Speaker 3: or you know. out of India.
[8:45] Speaker 2: Here you have two, the heads of the gang, Lawrence
[8:48] Speaker 2: Vishnoy and his brother Anmol, who are behind bars within
[8:51] Speaker 2: Indian prisons, which is something that a lot of people
[8:54] Speaker 2: are a bit surprised by, that how is the gang
[8:56] Speaker 2: operating with such regularity when the main accused are behind bars,
[9:01] Speaker 2: you have the gang leaders behind bars. And even the
[9:03] Speaker 2: opposition in the state has questioned the establishment as to
[9:07] Speaker 2: why are these attacks happening when you have the main
[9:10] Speaker 2: people behind bars. And another shocking bit is that even
[9:13] Speaker 2: though Mumbai has seen attacks from the murder of Baba
[9:16] Speaker 2: Siddiqui to firing outside Salman Khan's house, Rohit Shetty's house,
[9:20] Speaker 2: attacks continuously by.
[9:21] Speaker 3: The Vishnoi gang.
[9:22] Speaker 2: And surprisingly, not even once has the Mumbai police been
[9:26] Speaker 2: able to question either Lawrence Vishnoi, who's in Sabarmati prison
[9:29] Speaker 2: in Ahmedabad, or Anmol Vishnoi, who's in Tihar jail in Delhi. So,
[9:33] Speaker 2: you know, the reason behind this also is that there
[9:36] Speaker 2: is a provision in law where if you feel that
[9:38] Speaker 2: a person can be a threat or there's a threat
[9:40] Speaker 2: to his life, then you can restrict his custody for
[9:44] Speaker 2: a year, which means that like Anmol Bishnoi in December 2025,
[9:47] Speaker 2: that provision 303 of the BNSS has been applied, which
[9:52] Speaker 2: means from December 2025 to December 2026, no agency in
[9:56] Speaker 2: the country can get his custody.
[9:57] Speaker 3: He will remain in Tihar.
[9:59] Speaker 2: Even in the case of Lawrence Bishnoi, the same provision
[10:01] Speaker 2: was used. And every year that provision is extended by
[10:05] Speaker 2: one year. Mumbai police have so far not gotten his
[10:07] Speaker 2: custody and neither have they been able to go and
[10:09] Speaker 2: question them in prison. So this is a very peculiar
[10:12] Speaker 2: scenario that has happened that.
[10:14] Speaker 3: Has also drawn a lot of criticism. criticism.
[10:16] Speaker 2: And because both of them are behind bars, they have
[10:19] Speaker 2: to rely on people on the outside who are, let's say,
[10:21] Speaker 2: in a way, the second rung, the third rung, the
[10:23] Speaker 2: fourth rung. So, Anil Pandit, in this sense, is typically,
[10:26] Speaker 2: he too is young.
[10:27] Speaker 3: He's in his 30s. He's supposed to be based in
[10:29] Speaker 3: the US.
[10:30] Speaker 2: And because the brothers are behind bars, they use Like
[10:34] Speaker 2: Shubham Lonkar, typically people who were way down in the
[10:37] Speaker 2: pecking order, they are now calling the shots from the outside.
[10:40] Speaker 2: And so, you know, and so Anil Pandit is one
[10:42] Speaker 2: of those people who has been active in the northern state,
[10:45] Speaker 2: who is supposed to be like his last location was
[10:47] Speaker 2: in California, US. And he's typically one of those people
[10:51] Speaker 2: on the outside who, in the sense, is doing the
[10:53] Speaker 2: dirty work for the gang leaders who are behind bars.
[10:56] Speaker 3: Right.
[10:57] Speaker 1: And the Section 303 of the BNSS that you spoke of,
[11:01] Speaker 1: What kinds of security concerns justify preventing a prisoner from
[11:05] Speaker 1: being moved between jails or for that matter, produced physically
[11:09] Speaker 1: in court?
[11:10] Speaker 2: Yes, you see, basically, the particular provision was brought in to,
[11:14] Speaker 2: you know, especially to be used in sensitive cases where,
[11:16] Speaker 2: for example, if they feel that there is a gangster,
[11:19] Speaker 2: let's say there's Chota Rajan, although in his case, it's
[11:21] Speaker 2: not up in the court, who they believe if he's
[11:22] Speaker 2: sent to some prison in another state, there could be
[11:25] Speaker 2: a threat to his life or whom they believe can
[11:27] Speaker 2: create nuisance if he's sent to other prisons. So there
[11:30] Speaker 2: are a variety of reasons that are cited in the
[11:33] Speaker 2: law which prevents their custody being taken from any other agency.
[11:38] Speaker 2: There is another way that some people believe that the
[11:41] Speaker 2: Mumbai police could investigate this by taking permission and themselves
[11:44] Speaker 2: going to these prisons and interrogating them there. But Mumbai
[11:47] Speaker 2: police has also not exercised that right because they believe
[11:50] Speaker 2: that once you have an accused in your own custody
[11:52] Speaker 2: and they can question them in Mumbai, for example, there's
[11:55] Speaker 2: a greater chance.
[11:56] Speaker 3: That the accused may open up.
[11:57] Speaker 2: If the Mumbai police team goes to Tihar or they
[11:59] Speaker 2: go to Sabarmati, they believe that the accused may not open.
[12:02] Speaker 3: Up that much. So hence that also, while some cite why.
[12:04] Speaker 2: The police has not gone there, but they believe that
[12:06] Speaker 2: till the time they don't get proper custody, they will
[12:09] Speaker 2: not really get the details that they want.
[12:11] Speaker 3: From the accused.
[12:12] Speaker 1: Right, and this is something that was criticized even in
[12:14] Speaker 1: the Baba Siddiqui murder case where police essentially have alleged
[12:18] Speaker 1: that Anmol Bishnoi headed the syndicate behind the killing. So
[12:21] Speaker 1: why has he remained beyond the police's physical custody despite
[12:25] Speaker 1: being named as a wanted accused?
[12:27] Speaker 2: Yeah, so see, he has been named as a wanted accused.
[12:30] Speaker 2: In fact, Anmol Bishnoi too earlier was in the US.
[12:32] Speaker 2: He was later deported and brought to Tihar. So, you know,
[12:35] Speaker 2: these are questions for which, you know, there has not
[12:38] Speaker 2: been a lot of clarity. There is a provision in
[12:40] Speaker 2: place and there has been a lot of silence on
[12:42] Speaker 2: this as well. So even in the past when questions
[12:45] Speaker 2: were raised that why Lawrence is not being questioned, why
[12:47] Speaker 2: Lawrence custody is not being sought, the Mumbai police have
[12:50] Speaker 2: said that their hands are tied. They go to the
[12:52] Speaker 2: NIA court to seek their custody but because the MHA
[12:55] Speaker 2: has asked for the provision to be there, there's not
[12:58] Speaker 2: a lot that even the court can do. So in
[13:00] Speaker 2: that sense, you know, that question in a sense... will
[13:03] Speaker 2: need to be answered, especially now that the attacks are continuing.
[13:07] Speaker 3: Maybe the state and.
[13:08] Speaker 2: The center get together and decide on the way ahead
[13:11] Speaker 2: in a way that, you know, they can ensure that
[13:14] Speaker 2: this gang does not continue to operate with the regularity
[13:17] Speaker 2: that they are doing with the gang leaders being behind bars.
[13:20] Speaker 2: So that is something that I'm sure with this attack
[13:22] Speaker 2: as well, the state would be taking up with the centre. Now,
[13:25] Speaker 2: how much is the centre willing to cede and what
[13:28] Speaker 2: are the complications that they're not allowing other agencies to
[13:32] Speaker 2: kind of question the accused is also something that.
[13:35] Speaker 3: You know, not a lot of people are willing to
[13:37] Speaker 3: openly talk about.
[13:38] Speaker 1: And Mohammed, following the attack on Tiger Shroff, police have
[13:41] Speaker 1: increased security around Salman Khan. Rohit Shetty and even Aamir
[13:46] Speaker 1: Khan for that matter. And the investigators suspect that the
[13:50] Speaker 1: purpose of the shooting may have been to create a
[13:53] Speaker 1: kind of fear across Bollywood and make celebrities more vulnerable
[13:57] Speaker 1: to extortion.
[13:58] Speaker 3: So how do we read that?
[14:00] Speaker 2: You see, one of the questions that, you know, every time,
[14:03] Speaker 2: you know, somebody is targeted, the first question is, why
[14:05] Speaker 2: this person?
[14:05] Speaker 3: So even in the case.
[14:06] Speaker 2: Of, for example, Tiger Shroff, what one policeman told me,
[14:10] Speaker 2: which I think kind of makes sense, is the fact that, see,
[14:13] Speaker 2: like in the 90s also, you know, for these people,
[14:15] Speaker 2: they need to constantly create fear psychosis so that they
[14:19] Speaker 2: can extort money and show their influence. In the 90s,
[14:21] Speaker 2: the Daud gang, the Chota Rajan gang did that by
[14:24] Speaker 2: gunning down people so that the next if they make
[14:26] Speaker 2: a call to a celebrity, the person is so scared
[14:28] Speaker 2: that he will not even think of twice and just
[14:30] Speaker 2: pay up. So even for the Bishnoi gang in that
[14:33] Speaker 2: sense to continuously remain in the news to create that
[14:36] Speaker 2: fear so that, you know, people do pay up.
[14:38] Speaker 3: So for that, they just need a soft target.
[14:41] Speaker 2: And the police believe that, see, like most A-listers now
[14:43] Speaker 2: do carry the private security.
[14:45] Speaker 3: In case of Salman, there is police security.
[14:47] Speaker 2: But someone like a Tiger Shroff does not carry security.
[14:50] Speaker 3: So he does not carry security.
[14:52] Speaker 2: Cops were saying that a lot of these celebrities, their
[14:54] Speaker 2: videos are there on social media platforms. So it would
[14:57] Speaker 2: have been very easy to see that, okay, he comes
[14:59] Speaker 2: to play football here every weekend.
[15:01] Speaker 3: He does not carry security.
[15:02] Speaker 2: So, even though the Bishnoi gang always claims that this
[15:05] Speaker 2: person was close to Salman and they do try to
[15:07] Speaker 2: give it a very, you know, an ideological spin, but
[15:10] Speaker 2: police believe that they're just basically looking for easy targets
[15:13] Speaker 2: because all they need to do is grab headlines, remain
[15:16] Speaker 2: in the news, remain relevant and ensure that they're feared.
[15:18] Speaker 2: And in that sense, they're just looking for easy targets who,
[15:22] Speaker 2: you know, are not carrying security. So that is one
[15:24] Speaker 2: of the reasons why Tiger may have been chosen. And
[15:27] Speaker 2: also because of this, a lot of Bollywood stars now
[15:29] Speaker 2: are apparently, you know, going for private security, because now
[15:33] Speaker 2: the thing is with the attack on Tiger, and Tiger
[15:35] Speaker 2: in that sense is not seen as someone who's very
[15:37] Speaker 2: close to Salman Khan, you know, he's not a part
[15:39] Speaker 2: of his inner circle. So which means that anybody in
[15:41] Speaker 2: that sense is fair game for the gang. So hence,
[15:44] Speaker 2: a lot of people is what we are going in
[15:46] Speaker 2: for private security and are ensuring that they are not
[15:49] Speaker 2: seen as vulnerable and hence targeted.
[15:51] Speaker 1: And Mohammed, just expanding on the comparisons that you drew
[15:54] Speaker 1: earlier between this attack and the underworld's intimidation of Bollywood
[15:59] Speaker 1: in the 1990s, would it be safe to say that
[16:03] Speaker 1: we are seeing a return of that model of extortion?
[16:06] Speaker 2: See, you know, when the attack outside Rohit Shetty's house happened,
[16:09] Speaker 2: you know, I spoke to former Commissioner Julia Ribeiro and
[16:12] Speaker 2: he said a very interesting thing. Julia Ribeiro and Mr. D. Sivanandan,
[16:15] Speaker 2: both of them had similar things to say. And they
[16:17] Speaker 2: said that, see, this is not as bad as it
[16:19] Speaker 2: was in the 90s, but this could be the beginning
[16:22] Speaker 2: of something that could lead to what was in the 90s.
[16:24] Speaker 2: Because in the 90s, big people were being gunned down
[16:26] Speaker 2: in broad daylights. And I kind of agree with them
[16:28] Speaker 2: that it's not as bad. But, you know, if this
[16:31] Speaker 2: is not nipped in the bud, this has the power
[16:34] Speaker 2: to kind of turn into something more monstrous and something
[16:37] Speaker 2: that kind of Mumbai suffered from in the 90s. And
[16:40] Speaker 2: also in that sense, because underworld is no longer there,
[16:43] Speaker 2: there is that sense of vacuum. So, you know, these
[16:46] Speaker 2: gangs also are trying to fill in that vacuum. And hence,
[16:49] Speaker 2: Mumbai police has to be really, really careful in order
[16:51] Speaker 2: to ensure that this does not become a regular feature
[16:54] Speaker 2: and that this is nipped in the bud. And especially
[16:56] Speaker 2: since they have the heads of the gangs behind bars,
[16:59] Speaker 2: I think a lot of action, as much action that
[17:01] Speaker 2: would take place on the streets and ensuring that law
[17:04] Speaker 2: and order is maintained, a lot of conversations, I'm sure,
[17:06] Speaker 2: would be taking place behind doors in the security establishment
[17:09] Speaker 2: to ensure that, you know, the gang does not continue
[17:12] Speaker 2: to operate in the.
[17:12] Speaker 3: Way it has.
[17:14] Speaker 1: And so, Mohammed, now with the three alleged attackers in custody,
[17:17] Speaker 1: What would you say are the biggest unanswered questions in
[17:20] Speaker 1: the investigation?
[17:22] Speaker 2: No, I think the biggest unanswered questions, like editorial also
[17:24] Speaker 2: today said, is why is, you know, that's what something
[17:27] Speaker 2: even the court had asked earlier this year regarding Anmol Bishnoi.
[17:30] Speaker 2: So those responsible for the security of the state and
[17:33] Speaker 2: the country have to figure out a way to ensure that,
[17:36] Speaker 2: you know, Lawrence Bishnoi, Anmol Bishnoi do not continue to
[17:39] Speaker 2: operate with this kind of impunity and that their custody
[17:43] Speaker 2: is given to other police forces or figure out a
[17:46] Speaker 2: way behind closed doors to ensure that this gang, because
[17:49] Speaker 2: till the time once those at the top are kind
[17:52] Speaker 2: of controlled and once there is a clamp down on
[17:54] Speaker 2: their activities, that kind of trickles down.
[17:57] Speaker 3: And once the.
[17:57] Speaker 2: Message goes from the top, then I'm sure a lot
[17:59] Speaker 2: of this activity will slow down. So that in that
[18:02] Speaker 2: sense is the biggest unanswered question as to more than
[18:05] Speaker 2: unanswered question, it's a matter of time when will the
[18:08] Speaker 2: security establishment kind of take this situation in their own
[18:11] Speaker 2: hands and ensure that those within their own custody do
[18:14] Speaker 2: not continue to perpetrate this.
[18:21] Speaker 1: And next, we turn our attention to Mumbai, which faces
[18:25] Speaker 1: a threat from the waters that surround it. Right now,
[18:28] Speaker 1: Maharashtra is witnessing drought conditions in 265 of its 358 talukas.
[18:36] Speaker 1: As we have discussed previously on the show, the situation
[18:39] Speaker 1: is taking a heavy toll on farmers both financially and mentally.
[18:44] Speaker 1: The situation is also particularly difficult for women in rural areas,
[18:48] Speaker 1: many of whom now have to walk miles to fetch water.
[18:52] Speaker 1: But it turns out that the state's largest and most
[18:55] Speaker 1: populous city faces another looming threat. Recently, the Central Groundwater
[19:00] Speaker 1: Board conducted a study to better understand the region's groundwater.
[19:05] Speaker 1: The study found that 35% of Mumbai's area is vulnerable
[19:10] Speaker 1: to seawater intrusion into its freshwater aquifers. Now, if saline
[19:15] Speaker 1: water begins to enter the city's groundwater reserves, it could
[19:19] Speaker 1: significantly affect the quality of the water.
[19:22] Speaker 3: And limit its usability.
[19:24] Speaker 1: So to understand the significance of this report, my colleague
[19:27] Speaker 1: Niharika Nanda speaks with the Indian Express's Nayoneka Bose, who
[19:30] Speaker 1: reported on the issue for the newspaper.
[19:33] Speaker 5: Nayoneka, can you first tell us, where does Mumbai get
[19:36] Speaker 5: its fresh water from? Like, what are the main sources
[19:39] Speaker 5: the city depends on?
[19:41] Speaker 4: Yeah, so Mumbai is a coastal city, as we know,
[19:44] Speaker 4: and we are surrounded by the sea from three directions. And,
[19:48] Speaker 4: you know, because of that... Mumbai is entirely dependent on
[19:52] Speaker 4: rainwater for its daily potable water supply, as well as
[19:56] Speaker 4: its industrial and agricultural water demands. You know, we do
[19:59] Speaker 4: not have desalination plants, which convert seawater into, you know,
[20:04] Speaker 4: potable water. We entirely depend on rainwater for our usage.
[20:09] Speaker 4: So how the system works is that we have seven reservoirs.
[20:14] Speaker 4: which the city draws its potable water from. These are Tansa, Tulsi, Vihar,
[20:20] Speaker 4: Middle Vaitarna, Upper Vaitarna, Bhatsa and Modak Sagar. Some of
[20:23] Speaker 4: these reservoirs like Tulsi and Vihar are situated in Mumbai district,
[20:27] Speaker 4: but the rest of them are situated approximately 100 to
[20:30] Speaker 4: 150 kilometers away from the city in Thane and Nasik districts.
[20:35] Speaker 4: And together, these seven reservoirs have a total holding capacity
[20:39] Speaker 4: of some 14.47 lakh million litres. So during monsoon season,
[20:44] Speaker 4: which in Mumbai spans from June to September, these lakes
[20:49] Speaker 4: fill up to the brim and then throughout the year,
[20:52] Speaker 4: you know, water from these lakes is supplied through a
[20:56] Speaker 4: channel of water pipelines. So first the rainwater is collected
[21:01] Speaker 4: in these reservoirs and then it is conveyed up to
[21:04] Speaker 4: two treatment plants. One is in Banduk, the other one
[21:07] Speaker 4: is in Panjarapur. And from there on the treated water
[21:10] Speaker 4: is then you know supplied across Mumbai district through a
[21:14] Speaker 4: labyrinthine network of water channels and these water schemes the
[21:18] Speaker 4: development of these schemes had started in 1860s when Bombay
[21:23] Speaker 4: had started emerging as one of the prime cities of
[21:26] Speaker 4: the British administration at the time So prior to the
[21:30] Speaker 4: development of these schemes, we had been, I mean, the
[21:33] Speaker 4: city used to depend on groundwater, bore wells, tanks, lakes,
[21:38] Speaker 4: surface level, you know, water lakes for its water supply.
[21:41] Speaker 4: But now Mumbai is entirely dependent on these seven reservoirs
[21:46] Speaker 4: and primarily fuelled through rainwater.
[21:49] Speaker 5: And we're talking about Mumbai Water Supply because of this study,
[21:53] Speaker 5: which found that 35% of the city is vulnerable to
[21:56] Speaker 5: seawater intrusion. And the study was a part of the
[21:59] Speaker 5: Central Groundwater Board's Aquifer Management Plan.
[22:02] Speaker 3: So can you tell us a bit about that?
[22:04] Speaker 4: Yes, so the Aquifer Management Plan of 2025 is actually
[22:09] Speaker 4: a report which was prepared after a study was commissioned
[22:13] Speaker 4: by the Ministry of Jalshakti's Central Groundwater Board under its
[22:17] Speaker 4: National Aquifer Mapping and Management Program of 2.0. So this
[22:22] Speaker 4: water board, you know, the groundwater board had taken up
[22:25] Speaker 4: this particular program of mapping aquifers and its management in
[22:29] Speaker 4: order to carry out focused scientific studies in some selected
[22:34] Speaker 4: coastal states of India. The idea was to sort of
[22:38] Speaker 4: assess the extent and the cause and the trend of
[22:41] Speaker 4: groundwater contamination because coastal regions are particularly susceptible to the
[22:47] Speaker 4: threat of seawater intrusion. Right, so in 2025, it was
[22:51] Speaker 4: not only Maharashtra, but also in states like Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, Goa, Karnataka,
[22:57] Speaker 4: Kerala and also in Odisha that the CGWB had carried
[23:02] Speaker 4: out this program. In the case of Maharashtra, the study
[23:07] Speaker 4: was carried out over an area of a little over
[23:10] Speaker 4: 600 km. in Mumbai itself. So Mumbai is composed of
[23:14] Speaker 4: two districts. So the study area was limited to the
[23:19] Speaker 4: two districts of Mumbai, suburban and the island city district.
[23:23] Speaker 4: And it's a very detailed and a very scientific study
[23:26] Speaker 4: which was carried out to understand where exactly the groundwater
[23:30] Speaker 4: systems of Mumbai stand and the idea was to evaluate
[23:34] Speaker 4: the kind of challenges which are posed to groundwater management
[23:38] Speaker 4: given that it's not only a coastal city but also
[23:41] Speaker 4: one of the country's most densely populated cities.
[23:45] Speaker 5: But you mentioned that the primary source of fresh water
[23:48] Speaker 5: for Mumbai are the seven reservoirs. So where does groundwater
[23:53] Speaker 5: fit into the situation and how significant is it for
[23:55] Speaker 5: the city?
[23:56] Speaker 4: So groundwater, like I mentioned, since potable water in Mumbai
[24:02] Speaker 4: is primarily sourced through lakes, groundwater is not used for
[24:05] Speaker 4: drinking purposes in Mumbai. And in order to reduce illness
[24:09] Speaker 4: prevalence in the city, the BMC as well as the
[24:12] Speaker 4: state government have discouraged the use of water from wells
[24:17] Speaker 4: and ponds in the city. As such, a dug well
[24:21] Speaker 4: based water supply is not really encouraged. However, given that
[24:25] Speaker 4: currently there is a shortfall in supplying potable water anyway,
[24:29] Speaker 4: and the surface water can really fluctuate on the basis
[24:34] Speaker 4: of the seasonal variations or rainfall, right? There is always
[24:38] Speaker 4: a gap. And in that sense, groundwater is typically, I mean,
[24:44] Speaker 4: it is not entirely unused, but it is relegated to
[24:48] Speaker 4: supplementary source of supply. So it doesn't cater to industrial usage,
[24:53] Speaker 4: but in areas where there are wells, then people may
[24:55] Speaker 4: use it for some kind of supplementary purpose. But it's
[24:59] Speaker 4: definitely not the primary source.
[25:01] Speaker 1: Right.
[25:02] Speaker 5: So keeping that in mind, what did the CGWB study
[25:04] Speaker 5: tell us about saline water intrusion?
[25:07] Speaker 3: And how was it determined?
[25:09] Speaker 1: Right, right.
[25:10] Speaker 4: So it's a very detailed report. It looks at multiple aspects.
[25:14] Speaker 4: It's more than like close to 140 pages of study.
[25:17] Speaker 4: So it looks at multiple factors, you know, it studies
[25:21] Speaker 4: the levels of groundwater, the pressures of urbanization, how much
[25:25] Speaker 4: groundwater is currently being extracted in Mumbai districts. But one
[25:30] Speaker 4: of the most worrying aspects of the study is that
[25:33] Speaker 4: it flags seawater intrusion in the ground levels. So, according
[25:37] Speaker 4: to the findings, over one-third of Mumbai's area, in terms
[25:40] Speaker 4: of percentage, the report states 35%, is highly vulnerable to
[25:46] Speaker 4: seawater intrusion, which means that the fresh water in the aquifers,
[25:51] Speaker 4: particularly in the coastal zones, are highly vulnerable to ingression
[25:56] Speaker 4: of saline water. In the study, they have identified that
[26:00] Speaker 4: some of the most vulnerable areas of Mumbai are Fort,
[26:05] Speaker 4: which is in South Mumbai, Shivaji Park in Dadar, Mulun
[26:09] Speaker 4: East and Mahim. And it's not just at one level,
[26:12] Speaker 4: but the report identifies that the salinity of water levels
[26:16] Speaker 4: differs at variable depths. So at different depths, there is
[26:21] Speaker 4: different level of saline ingression and it finds that The
[26:25] Speaker 4: most vulnerable area, vulnerable zones rather, are the shallow aquifers
[26:30] Speaker 4: which are situated in western and southern coasts of the city.
[26:34] Speaker 4: And in case of the eastern zone, the study identifies
[26:38] Speaker 4: that aquifers which are at deeper depth and which are
[26:40] Speaker 4: close to the creeks, they are the most vulnerable. And
[26:45] Speaker 4: what this study also finds is that saline water ingression
[26:49] Speaker 4: is particularly observed during the pre-monsoon period. When it comes
[26:53] Speaker 4: to how these findings were determined, it is through a
[26:56] Speaker 4: very scientific study called the Galdit model. in which an
[27:01] Speaker 4: index is determined using like six different parameters, which includes,
[27:06] Speaker 4: you know, studying, looking at the type of aquifer, looking
[27:10] Speaker 4: at the distance and the proximity to the coast or
[27:13] Speaker 4: the shoreline, the depth of the aquifer from the surface
[27:16] Speaker 4: and even the thickness of the aquifers. These multiple aspects
[27:20] Speaker 4: were studied and on the basis of that, an index
[27:23] Speaker 4: was identified.
[27:24] Speaker 5: And Nayonika, what kind of concerns do these findings raise?
[27:28] Speaker 5: How can saline water intrusion impact the groundwater?
[27:31] Speaker 4: Right, when we say that, you know, one third of Mumbai,
[27:36] Speaker 4: 35% of Mumbai's land surface is vulnerable to seawater intrusion,
[27:40] Speaker 4: it raises concerns over the usability of groundwater in the region. So,
[27:45] Speaker 4: in very simple terms, you know, if saline water enters
[27:49] Speaker 4: the fresh water, which is stored in aquifers, then this
[27:52] Speaker 4: threatens the usage of groundwater. even in areas where extraction
[27:57] Speaker 4: levels are considered to be safe. Because saline water cannot
[28:00] Speaker 4: be consumed, not even for, of course, not for drinking purposes,
[28:04] Speaker 4: but also not for supplementary usage. And this finding is
[28:09] Speaker 4: particularly alarming in the current context because of the looming
[28:14] Speaker 4: water crisis across the state. I mean, in Maharashtra, the
[28:18] Speaker 4: government has already declared a drought across more than 260 talukas.
[28:23] Speaker 4: And while Mumbai may not be one of those districts
[28:27] Speaker 4: or talukas, because Mumbai has received its annual quota of
[28:31] Speaker 4: monsoon rainfall, it still stares at a potential water crisis
[28:36] Speaker 4: because currently, anyway, the current water which is being supplied
[28:41] Speaker 4: by the BMC to citizens of Mumbai is not sufficient
[28:44] Speaker 4: because there's a shortfall in terms of the supply and
[28:47] Speaker 4: the demand. And this year, the threat is even higher
[28:51] Speaker 4: because we have observed that monsoon withdrawal has happened sooner.
[28:55] Speaker 4: The quantum of rain that we've received is much lower.
[28:59] Speaker 4: And with one of the strongest El Nino weather patterns
[29:02] Speaker 4: right now, We're also looking at the threat of a
[29:06] Speaker 4: warmer summer, a warmer October, which could really fasten the
[29:10] Speaker 4: process of evaporation of the lake levels. In the current times,
[29:15] Speaker 4: for example, Mumbai is still reeling under a 10% water cut.
[29:19] Speaker 4: So in such a water crisis situation, sources of groundwater
[29:24] Speaker 4: could really be tapped into for supplementary use. But if
[29:27] Speaker 4: findings like these come to fore, even these aquifers really
[29:31] Speaker 4: could be rendered useless.
[29:33] Speaker 1: Right.
[29:33] Speaker 5: And what are some of the steps suggested by the
[29:36] Speaker 5: study in order to restrict saline water intrusion?
[29:39] Speaker 1: Right.
[29:39] Speaker 4: So, you know, in areas of Fort in South Mumbai,
[29:43] Speaker 4: Mulund East, Shivaji Park in Dadar, which I mentioned earlier
[29:48] Speaker 4: as being identified as some of the most vulnerable zones,
[29:51] Speaker 4: the report has recommended that the groundwater development.
[29:55] Speaker 3: Should be restricted.
[29:56] Speaker 4: So, for example, in Fort area, the report recommends that
[30:01] Speaker 4: groundwater development should be restricted up to the depth of
[30:04] Speaker 4: only 60 metres. And in Shivaji Park, it suggests that
[30:09] Speaker 4: groundwater development should be completely prohibited because the very saline
[30:14] Speaker 4: zones were observed at shallow levels. So what the report
[30:18] Speaker 4: recommends instead is that in these areas, there are many parks,
[30:22] Speaker 4: there are many gardens where structures for recharge can be created.
[30:27] Speaker 4: For example, percolation tanks or a recharge pit with a filter.
[30:32] Speaker 4: These will ensure that the aquifers are saturated and saline
[30:37] Speaker 4: water intrusion is prevented. Amongst other suggestions of the report
[30:41] Speaker 4: include constant monitoring in these vulnerable areas near the coast
[30:46] Speaker 4: and It also recommends that groundwater extraction, like the usage
[30:51] Speaker 4: of these water resources, especially in the vulnerable zones, should
[30:56] Speaker 4: be avoided or prevented to ensure that the seawater does
[31:00] Speaker 4: not move into the freshwater aquifers. Besides that, it's a
[31:05] Speaker 4: very detailed report. It recommends multiple suggestions, which includes demarcating
[31:11] Speaker 4: special aquifer protection zones or water quality monitoring, data management,
[31:18] Speaker 4: water audits and, you know, even creating general awareness amongst
[31:22] Speaker 4: the public.
[31:23] Speaker 5: And Neonika, has the state government taken any steps to
[31:26] Speaker 5: reduce this risk?
[31:27] Speaker 1: Yes.
[31:27] Speaker 4: So this, I mean, the report is for the year
[31:30] Speaker 4: of 2025 and the finding was submitted earlier this year.
[31:34] Speaker 4: So accordingly, the Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation, which is the
[31:38] Speaker 4: municipal body governing Mumbai, they have roped in an external
[31:43] Speaker 4: agency to sort of conduct a study on the salination
[31:46] Speaker 4: levels of groundwater. So this study, they have appointed an
[31:50] Speaker 4: agency called All India Institute of Local Self-Government. And what
[31:56] Speaker 4: they have been tasked with is to collect water samples
[31:59] Speaker 4: across the city's wells and other groundwater resources. So, according
[32:03] Speaker 4: to a senior official, the idea is that once the
[32:06] Speaker 4: consultant collects the samples and analyzes them, they will submit
[32:11] Speaker 4: a detailed roadmap to, you know, prevent the salination of
[32:15] Speaker 4: groundwater resources. Once that plan is submitted, then the BMC,
[32:19] Speaker 4: on the basis of the findings, will be able to
[32:22] Speaker 4: determine the kind of costs and the scope of work
[32:25] Speaker 4: which will be required in order to regulate salination levels
[32:29] Speaker 4: in Mumbai's groundwater resources.
[32:36] Speaker 1: And in the end... We talk about a political controversy
[32:39] Speaker 1: in Uttarakhand where PILIS have filed an FIR over social
[32:43] Speaker 1: media posts questioning the state government's investment claims just a
[32:48] Speaker 1: day after Rahul Gandhi described its 2023 Global Investor Summit
[32:53] Speaker 1: as a sham. The FIR was registered at Dehradun's Rajpur
[32:57] Speaker 1: PILIS station against a social media account holder identified as
[33:01] Speaker 1: Kamran who operates the handle at the rate Citizen Kamran
[33:05] Speaker 1: and another unidentified person. As reported by the Indian Express's
[33:08] Speaker 1: Vidisha Kuntamala, the complaint was filed by a senior official
[33:12] Speaker 1: from Uttarakhand's Industries Department, who alleged that the accounts had
[33:17] Speaker 1: been repeatedly circulating false, misleading and baseless material about investment
[33:23] Speaker 1: generated through the summit. According to the complaint, such posts
[33:27] Speaker 1: were creating confusion and mistrust among investors and could potentially
[33:31] Speaker 1: damage the state's investment climate. The official also sought identification
[33:36] Speaker 1: of other accounts posting similar material and removal of the
[33:40] Speaker 1: content from social media platforms. Now, the police action comes
[33:44] Speaker 1: in the middle of a larger political dispute over how
[33:47] Speaker 1: much investment the summit has actually delivered. Leader of the
[33:51] Speaker 1: opposition Rahul Gandhi alleged that many of the investments existed
[33:55] Speaker 1: only on paper and questioned whether entities such as public
[33:59] Speaker 1: sector undertakings Fertilizer shops and flour mills had been included
[34:03] Speaker 1: in the state's investor count. He also cited 1,779 memorandums
[34:09] Speaker 1: of understanding worth 3.56 lakh crore rupees and demanded that
[34:15] Speaker 1: the government publish the full list of investors. Gandhi further
[34:19] Speaker 1: alleged that nearly 100 crore rupees had been spent on
[34:22] Speaker 1: roadshows linked to the summit. The Uttarakhand government has rejected
[34:26] Speaker 1: that criticism. Industry Secretary Vinay Shankar Pandey said project-level investment
[34:32] Speaker 1: data was publicly available and argued that creating what he
[34:36] Speaker 1: called misleading perceptions without examining the complete facts was inappropriate.
[34:41] Speaker 1: He said investments worth more than Rs 1.1 lakh crore had.
[34:46] Speaker 3: Already been realised.
[34:48] Speaker 1: The FIR invokes provisions of the Information Technology Act dealing
[34:53] Speaker 1: with identity theft and cheating by personation. You were listening
[35:04] Speaker 1: to Three Things by The Indian Express. Today's show was
[35:07] Speaker 1: edited and mixed by Suresh Bavar and produced by Niharika
[35:10] Speaker 1: Nanda and me.
[35:11] Speaker 3: Ichha Sharma.
[35:12] Speaker 1: If you like the show, do subscribe to us wherever
[35:14] Speaker 1: you get your podcasts. You can also recommend it to
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[35:19] Speaker 1: in your family. This is the best way for people
[35:22] Speaker 1: to get to know about us. You can also tweet
[35:24] Speaker 1: us at Express Podcast or write to us at podcast
[35:27] Speaker 1: at indianexpress.com.

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