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“Shroff loves playing football and comes to Pushpa Narsee Ground between 5 pm and 7 pm every Sunday. He hardly misses any Sunday,” a friend, who was with him this Sunday too and who did not wish to be identified, said.

On October 18, CCTV footage shows they arrived at the park around 4.30 pm and kept walking up to the gate and looking inside to check whether the actor was there, the officer said. Police suspect there may have been others too keeping a watch on Shroff’s movements, to alert the shooters. Shroff eventually emerged around 7 pm, when the shooters opened fire.

Police believe the intention of the shooters was to kill Shroff and his driver.

Shroff’s friend said he and the others at the ground initially mistook the sound of the gunfire to be firecrackers. Another team had burst crackers a few minutes earlier to celebrate a team member’s birthday, he said.

Baloch was also able to give the description of the men and what they were wearing, saying the two shooters both wore white shoes and black trousers, with one of them in a white floral shirt and the other in a light-blue full-sleeved shirt. The man on the motorcycle wore a chocolate-coloured T-shirt with a white stripe and grey trousers, the FIR says.

Baloch was shot in the left wrist, with the bullet lodged in his forearm. He also fractured his right ring finger. Shroff suffered injuries to his chest and right hand, according to the complaint.

After the firing, Shroff moved into the driver’s seat and drove himself and Baloch to the Santacruz Police Station. Police then took them to Nanavati Hospital.

The friend said he went to Nanavati Hospital with two others, where Shroff was in the emergency ward. “About an hour later, his sister and mother, along with some family friends, arrived,” he said.