Investigators probing the firing outside actor Salman Khan’s Bandra home have found out that the plot was hatched in the US by a close aide of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and the job was assigned to two professional shooters.

“A preliminary probe has revealed that the attack was meticulously planned for a month in the US by the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. The two accused were selected from a pool of professional shooters from Maharashtra, Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab,” a source in the security agencies said on Monday.

Around 5am on Sunday two men on bikes opened fire outside Salman’s residence in Bandra and fled. The actor was at his home when the incident took place.

Police and security agencies across several states in north India are jointly probing the incident to unearth the web of connections and the crime network behind the attack.

CCTV footage has revealed the accused. Sporting caps and carrying backpacks, the duo arrived on a bike and started firing towards the actor’s residence. A police vehicle, always stationed outside Salman’s house, was not present that day.

Sources said the two shooters were part of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. Bishnoi’s brother Anmol Bishnoi and one of his close aides Rohit Godara — both based in the US — allegedly planned the attack a month ago. “Godara, who has an extensive network of professional shooters in multiple Indian states, selected the two accused,” said a Delhi police officer.

One of the two shooters is suspected to be a hardened criminal from Gurgaon who was involved in multiple killings and robberies in Haryana and is also wanted in the murder of Gurgaon-based businessman Sachin Munjal last month.