Wednesday, September 21 2005 15:36 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: One more person was arrested in connection with the murder plan of filmmaker Madhur Bhandarkar, allegedly hatched by Bollywood starlet Preeti Jain, taking the total number of arrests in the case so far to five, police said.

Gufran Mohamed Ibrahim Sheikh alias Sameer, a resident of central Mumbai was arrested last night (Sept 20, 2005) with police suspecting him to be a sharp shooter who was part of the murder conspiracy.

DCP Santosh Rastogi confirmed Sameer's arrest.

Shivam Arjundas and Satish Mohite, both residents of Parel, were arrested yesterday (Sept 20, 2005) and a country-made revolver and four bullets seized from them, while Preeti Jain and former Arun Gawli aide Naresh Pardesi are already in the police custody.

Jain, who hit headlines last year for charging Bhandarkar of sexual exploitation, was arrested on September 10, 2005 after gangster-turned-politician, Arun Gawli tipped police of a plot to eliminate the filmmaker.

Gawli's former aide, Naresh Pardesi was subsequently held on charges of accepting Rs 75,000 from Jain to execute the plan. Investigations have now revealed that Pardesi allegedly hired Shivam, Mohite and Sameer to execute the murder plan.