Mumbai:

After meeting with Joint Commissioner of Crime Branch of Mumbai Police Lakhmi Gautam, Nationalist Congress Party leader and son of former MLA and NCP leader Baba Siddique, Zeeshan Siddiqui on Thursday expressed dissatisfaction over the investigation in his father’s murder and said that the law and order have been made a joke in Mumbai.

“I had given the names of those whom I suspect in my statement. When I asked if all of them had been questioned, I was told that they had not been questioned. When I asked the police why the statements of those builders were not recorded, they did not give me a satisfactory answer. Seeing this, I feel that law and order are being made a joke in Mumbai. This is not a fair investigation, for I will now meet our leader and Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Ajit Pawar. I will also meet Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who was my father’s friend. I hope I will get justice. I will take every possible step that I feel is right to get justice,” said Zeeshan Siddiqui while speaking to the media.

“After my father was killed, it was said that Bishnoi had done it. Why was this narrative set? I am not denying this but if it has been done by the Bishnoi gang, then the accused must be brought back to India. This is condemnable,” he added.

Notably, Baba Siddique was an NCP leader who was shot dead by three assailants near his son, MLA Zeeshan Siddique’s, office in Mumbai’s Nirmal Nagar on October 12.

The Lawrence Bishnoi gang claimed responsibility for the NCP leader’s murder.

Mumbai Police’s investigation into the Baba Siddiqui murder case has revealed that prime suspect Akashdeep Gill, arrested in Punjab, used a labourer’s mobile hotspot to communicate with key conspirators, including mastermind Anmol Bishnoi, police said.

Gill was identified as the logistics coordinator in the murder plot orchestrated by notorious gangster Anmol Bishnoi.

According to the information received from a senior officer of the Mumbai Crime Branch, the investigation of the Mumbai Crime Branch has revealed that after the murder of Baba Siddiqui, a big leader of Pune was also on the radar of the Bishnoi gang.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Shiv Kumar Gautam, the main accused in the murder case of Maharashtra politician Baba Siddique, has made big revelations during police interrogation. The 20-year-old was arrested along with his four aides from Uttar Pradesh’s Bahraich on Sunday while he was trying to flee to Nepal. He is among the three shooters who shot dead Mr Siddique outside his MLA son Zeeshan Siddique’s office in Mumbai on October 12.

During interrogation, he told the police that Anmol Bishnoi, the brother of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, had told him to shoot the 66-year-old NCP leader or his son, Zeeshan, police sources said.

“Shoot whoever you see first,” Anmol apparently told Shiv Kumar.

Before carrying out the murder, Anmol Bishnoi, who is believed to be in Canada and is also on the most-wanted list of the National Investigation Agency, had given a pep talk to Shiv Kumar.

Mumbai police crime branch sources said Anmol told him what he was going to do was for “God and the society.”

A picture of Zeeshan Siddique, 32, was reportedly found on a cell phone seized from one of the three men who shot his father.

Shiv Kumar Gautam Changed Clothes After Baba Siddique Murder

After killing Baba Siddique, Shiv Kumar Gautam immediately changed his shirt and disappeared into the crowd so that no one could identify him, Mumbai police crime branch sources.

He then stayed near the crime scene to avoid any confrontation.

The 20-year-old then initially travelled from the crime scene to Kurla in an auto and then boarded a local train to Thane, sources said.

From Thane, he took a train to Pune and dumped his mobile phone during the journey.

Shiv Kumar stayed in Pune for about seven days and then went to Uttar Pradesh’s Jhansi by train. He then stayed there for five days and went to the state capital Lucknow.

In Lucknow, he bought a new mobile and contacted his aides. After spending 11 days there, he travelled to his native Bahraich and met his aides, who had arranged a safehouse for him in a nearby village.

Shiv Kumar also said that after killing Baba Siddique, he first planned to go to Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain and then to Vaishno Devi in Jammu before fleeing the country.

How Cops Caught Shiv Kumar Gautam

The police traced about 45 people, including Shiv Kumar Gautam’s family members and his close aides, and tracked their movements after Baba Siddique’s murder.

During the investigation, they zeroed down to four people who were constantly in contact with Shiv Kumar, police sources said.

The police then laid a trap and waited for those four accused to meet Shiv Kumar. They then caught him from the Nanpara area of Bahraich on Sunday.

He was arrested in a joint operation by the police officials of Uttar Pradesh and Mumbai.

Anurag Kashyap, Gyan Prakash Tripathi, Akash Srivastava and Akhileshendra Pratap Singh were also arrested for giving shelter to Shiv Kumar and helping him escape to Nepal.

The police have so far arrested 20 in the case.

Baba Siddique was murdered apparently because of his close relationship with actor Salman Khan. Lawrence Bishnoi’s associates have hinted that the grouse against Mr Khan is about the blackbucks he killed 20 years ago. Blackbucks are sacred to the Bishnoi community.

New Delhi:

Shiv Kumar Gautam, the main accused in the murder case of Maharashtra politician Baba Siddique, was arrested from Uttar Pradesh’s Bahraich on Sunday. Sources said he was trying to flee to Nepal.

Shiv Kumar, along with two other accused — Gurnail Singh, a resident of Haryana and Dhramraj Kashyap of Uttar Pradesh — shot dead Mr Siddique, 66, outside his politician son Zeeshan Siddique’s office in Mumbai on October 12.

While Singh and Kashyao were arrested immediately after the attack, Shiv Kumar had managed to flee.

Shiv Kumar, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, was caught in a joint operation by the police officials of Uttar Pradesh and Mumbai from the Nanpara area of Bahraich.

During interrogation, he apparently said they were in Mumbai for days conducting recce for the NCP leader and on the night of October 12, “When we got the right time, we killed Baba Siddique”.

Police sources said Shiv Kumar has also admitted that he is linked to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. The murder, he allegedly said, was carried out on the instructions of Anmol Bishnoi, the brother of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi.

Anmol’s name has also cropped up in the murder of Punjabi singer-politician Sidhu Moosewala in 2022, and the firing outside actor Salman Khan’s residence in Mumbai in April. He is on the most-wanted list of the National Investigation Agency, and a Rs 10 lakh reward has been announced for his arrest.

How Cops Caught Shiv Kumar Gautam

After the murder of Baba Siddique, Shiv Kumar had gone to Omkareshwar in Madhya Pradesh to meet some henchmen of the gang. The Mumbai police had tracked him to Omkareshwar but failed to catch him.

The police then traced about 45 people, including Shiv Kumar’s family members and his close aides, and tracked their movements.

During the investigation, they zeroed down to four people who were constantly in contact with Shiv Kumar, police sources said.

A house next to Shiv Kumar’s residence was apparently made a safe house for him. The police then laid a trap and waited for those four accused to meet Shiv Kumar. They then caught him and his four aides there on Sunday.

Anurag Kashyap, Gyan Prakash Tripathi, Akash Srivastava and Akhileshendra Pratap Singh were arrested for giving shelter to Shiv Kumar and helping him escape to Nepal. The police have so far arrested 20 in the case.

Baba Siddique was murdered apparently because of his close relationship with actor Salman Khan. Lawrence Bishnoi’s associates have hinted that the grouse against Mr Khan is about the blackbucks he killed 20 years ago. Blackbucks are sacred to the Bishnoi community.

Investigators said Baba Siddique’s son and Mumbai MLA Zeeshan Siddique is also a target for the same reason. His photo was reportedly found on a cell phone seized from one of the three men who shot his father.

Mumbai:

Police have arrested one more person in connection with the murder of NCP leader and former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique from Ludhiana, an official said on Friday, taking the number of those held in the case to 15.

The accused, Sujit Sushil Singh (32), was caught from the Punjab town by a Mumbai police team and was being brought to the metropolis, he said.

The 66-year-old NCP leader was shot dead by three gunmen on October 12 in Mumbai’s Bandra area.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

New Delhi:

Anmol Bishnoi, the brother of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, has been added to the most-wanted list of the National Investigation Agency (NIA), sources said.

The anti-terror agency has also announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for the arrest of Anmol Bishnoi, who is wanted in connection with a shooting incident that occurred outside Bollywood actor Salman Khan’s Mumbai residence earlier this year.

Anmol, Lawrence Bishnoi – who is currently lodged in the Sabarmati central prison in Ahmedabad – and Canada-based gangster Goldie Brar were among the persons named as accused in the case related to the firing outside Mr Khan’s Bandra residence in Mumbai in April.

ALSO READ | Lawrence Bishnoi Has 700 Shooters On Call. How He Operates From Jail

The Navi Mumbai police had in this case arrested five Bishnoi gang members – Dhananjay alias Ajay Kashyap alias Nahvi, Gaurav Bhatia, Waspi Khan alias Wasim Chikna, Rizwan Khan alias Javed, and Deepak Hawa Singh alias John.

After the arrests, police in June also claimed to have uncovered a plot to target the actor on his way to his farmhouse near Panvel in Navi Mumbai.

The name of Anmol Bishnoi had also cropped up in the murder case of former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique. The 66-year-old NCP leader was shot dead by three persons in Mumbai, just outside his MLA son Zeeshan Siddique’s office, on October 12.

Anmol Bishnoi’s Speech To Shooters In Salman Khan House Firing

On the night of April 14, Mumbai’s Bandra neighbourhood was rocked by the sound of gunfire as two men on motorbikes fired multiple rounds outside Salman Khan’s residence.

A detailed chargesheet shed light on the events leading up to the attack on the actor’s house and revealed a long conversation between Anmol Bishnoi — who is reportedly operating from outside the country — and the shooters involved.

A 9-minute-long speech by Anmol Bishnoi was aimed at instilling courage in the shooters, Vicky Gupta and Sagar Pal, as they prepared to “script history” with their violent act.

ALSO READ | “Either Bullets Will Be Fired Or…”: Details In Salman Khan House Firing

According to the chargesheet, the plan was hatched over several months, from August 2023 to April 2024.

Investigations have revealed that the Bishnoi gang intended to acquire advanced firearms from Pakistan, including AK-47s, AK-92s, M16 rifles, and the Turkish-made Zigana pistol, the weapon used in the murder of Punjabi singer-politician Sidhu Moose Wala in May 2022.

According to the chargesheet, a network of approximately 60 to 70 individuals was involved in tracking Mr Khan’s every movement. This extensive surveillance covered his residence in Mumbai, his Panvel farmhouse, and even the Goregaon Film City, which he often visited for film shoots.

Mathura, Uttar Pradesh:

Mathura Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Shailesh Pandey has suspended three police personnel after a video statement of Yogesh, a sharpshooter of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang went viral. The sharpshooter was seen speaking to local media crews while being in police custody at the Refinery police station.

Shooter Yogesh had said that his encounter in Mathura was fake. He had given a statement on NCP leader Baba Siddiqui who was shot dead in Mumbai.

Sub-inspector Ramsanehi, head constable Vipin and constable Sanjay posted at Refinery police station have been suspended by SSP Pandey.

Yogesh, involved in a murder case in Delhi, was arrested by the Delhi Special Cell and Mathura Police in a joint action on Thursday.

Delhi police’s special cell in a joint operation with Mathura Police arrested Yogesh, a shooter of the Lawrence Bishnoi-Hashim Baba gang on Thursday in connection with the murder of a 35-year-old gym owner.

SSP Mathura Shailesh Pandey said, “In a joint operation between police and Delhi Special Cell team, a sharpshooter named Yogesh, who is said to have linkages with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, has been injured in an encounter. He has been wanted in a murder case in Delhi.”

The gym owner, identified as Nadir Shah, was shot dead in full public view in South Delhi on September 12.

Meanwhile, security has been tightened at the residence of Bollywood actor Salman Khan after fresh death threats were received demanding an extortion payment of Rs 5 crore.

This comes after the Mumbai Police had said that a threatening message was received on the WhatsApp number of Mumbai Traffic Police, demanding Rs 5 crore from actor Salman Khan “to end his long-standing rivalry with Lawrence Bishnoi.”

The person who sent the message claimed to be close to Lawrence Bishnoi’s gang and claimed to put the actor’s life in danger if not provided with the extortion money.

The sender claimed, “Don’t take it lightly, if Salman Khan wants to stay alive and wants to end the enmity with Lawrence Bishnoi, then he will have to pay Rs 5 crore. If the money is not given, Salman Khan’s condition will be worse than Baba Siddique’s.”

The incident comes in the backdrop of the recent murder of Nationalist Congress Party leader Baba Siddique.

Following Siddique’s assassination, which occurred outside his office on October 12, the police have intensified their search for the suspects involved in his death.

A look-out circular was issued for Shubham Lonkar, along with two additional suspects, Shiv Kumar Gautam and Zeeshan Akhtar, who are believed to be trying to flee to Nepal.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Mumbai:

A photo of Zeeshan Siddique was found in the phone of one of the men who shot his father, Baba Siddique, last Saturday. The phone recovered from one of the accused arrested during the investigation of the murder case of the NCP leader had his photo, police sources said.

According to the sources, the photo was shared with the accused by their handler through Snapchat. The platform, investigators say, was used by the shooters and conspirators in the case to send messages to each other.

These messages were deleted on instruction from their handler, allegedly belonging to the gang of the notorious gangster Lawrence Bishnoi.

Read | Son’s Cryptic Post After Baba Siddique Murder

Siddique was shot by three men near his MLA son’s office in Nirmal Nagar in Mumbai’s Bandra area on October 12. The Congress-turned-NCP leader was rushed to nearby Lilavati Hospital where he was declared dead. The police have arrested nine people – including two of the three shooters – in the case so far. Five of them – Nitin Gautam Sapre (32), Sambhaji Kisan Pardhi (44), Pradeep Dattu Thombre (37), Chetan Dilip Pardhi and Ram Fulchand Kanoujia (43) -were arrested yesterday for allegedly providing firearms and logistical support to the shooters. Three accused are still on the run, police said.

Kanoujia, a resident of Panvel in Raigad, told police that the contract to kill Siddique was initially given to him and Sapre, sources said. He quoted a whopping amount of Rs 1 crore to take up the contract as, he said, he didn’t want to kill Siddique, the sources added. After Kanaujia and Sapre backed off, the task was given to Dharmraj Kashyap, Gurnail Singh and Shivkumar Gautam, the sources said. Kashyap and Singh were arrested on the day of the crime while Gautam managed to escape.

The accused told police that Shubham Lonkar – who was an alleged conspirator and the handler of the shooters in the case – chose Kashyap and Gautam for the job because he knew the people of Uttar Pradesh would not know about Baba Siddiqui’s stature in Maharashtra and that they would agree to commit the murder even for less money, according to the police sources.

Constable With Baba Siddique During Shooting Incident Suspended

When Baba Siddique was shot, he had only one police constable – a part of his security detail – accompanying him who did not retaliate when six rounds were fired at the senior politician. The security personnel has been suspended.

The constable told the investigators that he failed to react at the time of the incident as some “chilli-like substance” had entered his eyes, the sources said.

The three shooters and a co-conspirator had stationed themselves close to Mr Siddique’s waiting car, as per a reconstruction of the assassination. As the 66-year-old came out of the office and tried to get inside the car, the killers let off some device that covered the area in thick smoke. Many thought it was the smoke from the firecrackers, which also masked the noise of gunshots.

Baba Siddique had a ‘2+1’ security which means, two security guards during the day and one at night. When he went to Bandra East on October 12, he had two security guards with him. But before he left his son’s office, around 8:30 pm, one of the two security guards had left the location.

Lawrence Bishnoi Gang Link?

The Mumbai Crime Branch is also probing if the arrested accused had any link to the firing outside actor Salman Khan’s Galaxy Apartments residence in Mumbai’s Bandra area in April. Lawrence Bishnoi had taken responsibility for the crime.

A day after Siddique’s murder, a Facebook post claimed the Bishnoi gang was behind it. Hours later, a 28-year-old man was arrested from Pune. The police said the arrested man, Pravin Lonkar, was a “co-conspirator” and added that they were on the lookout for his brother, Shubham Lonkar.

31-year-old Bishnoi is in jail since 2015 is accused of running a trans-national crime syndicate by the National Investigation Agency. His name has been linked to several high-profile murder and extortion cases including the 2022 killing of popular Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala.

Mumbai:

Investigation into the murder of former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique has revealed details of the planning behind the operation which included the acquisition of a substantial cache of bullets, YouTube firearms training, and the careful orchestration of getaway plans. The plotters aimed to ensure the murder was executed with precision, taking no chances on ammunition or escape routes.

So far, four individuals have been arrested, including Haryana resident Gurmail Baljit Singh (23), Uttar Pradesh native Dharmaraj Rajesh Kashyap (19), both alleged shooters; Harishkumar Balakram Nisad (23), and “co-conspirator” Pravin Lonkar, who belongs to Pune.

Nisad and Kashyap belong to the same village as the wanted accused Shivkumar Gautam. 

According to police sources, the accused responsible for Mr Siddique’s murder – Gurmail Singh (23) and Dharamaraj Kashyap (19) – were equipped with 65 bullets, a stockpile intended to guarantee they would not run out of ammunition. Six of these bullets were fired on the night of October 12, when Mr Siddique was shot dead outside his son Zeeshan Siddique’s office in the Nirmal Nagar area in Bandra.

Authorities have recovered two firearms used by the accused – an Austrian-made pistol and a locally manufactured country-made pistol. Alongside these weapons, police found 28 live bullets on Singh and Kashyap at the time of their arrest. The investigative team also discovered a black bag, located just a short distance from the murder site, containing a Turkish-made 7.62 bore pistol and 30 live rounds. This bag also held two Aadhar cards – one in the name of Shivkumar Gautam, who is also a suspect in the case, and another under the name Sumit Kumar, though both cards bore Shivkumar’s photo.

Motorbike Plan Foiled By Accident

According to the police, the accused had initially planned to carry out the attack using a motorbike. The idea was for the shooters to ride up to the location, execute the murder, and then escape quickly by bike. However, a traffic accident involving two of the suspects caused them to abandon this plan. Instead, the three perpetrators decided to travel by auto-rickshaw to the site of the crime. After the murder, they quickly changed their clothes to avoid detection.

Harishkumar Balakram Nisad, one of the arrested co-conspirators, had transferred Rs 60,000 for the purchase of a motorbike. Out of this amount, Rs 32,000 was used to buy a second-hand bike, which was intended to be used in the assassination.

Manhunt And Escape Attempts

The investigation has revealed the involvement of several suspects, with the prime accused, Shubham Lonkar, an alleged member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang who is still at large. Mumbai Police have issued a Look Out Circular (LOC) against Lonkar, who is believed to be attempting to flee to Nepal. His photographs have been circulated at the Nepal border in an effort to prevent his escape.

Lonkar had remained active on social media until just three days before the murder, with responsibility for Mr Siddique’s killing reportedly being claimed via his Facebook profile on October 9. His brother, Praveen Lonkar, has been arrested for allegedly providing financial support to the killers. 

Authorities have not yet managed to track down Shubham’s exact location, but intelligence suggests he may have been in contact with key criminal networks. 

YouTube Training And Firearm Mastery

According to the police, the shooters learned to operate guns by watching YouTube tutorials. In the weeks leading up to the murder, the accused rented a house in the Kurla area of Mumbai, where they practised loading, unloading, and handling weapons. Due to a lack of open space, they engaged in “dry practice” drills and rehearsing with unloaded guns.

Investigations also revealed that Shivkumar Gautam, another prime suspect, had experience with firearms from celebratory firings at weddings in Uttar Pradesh, where he is believed to have honed his shooting skills. Gautam, described as the “main shooter,” not only participated in the planning but also trained Kashyap and Singh in the handling of guns. The trio communicated frequently via social media platforms like Snapchat and Instagram, using these apps to stay under police radar while coordinating the assassination plan.

Shubham Lonkar, the key suspect on the run, was previously arrested in January under the Arms Act in Maharashtra’s Akola district. His arrest had led to the seizure of more than ten firearms. 

Mumbai:

The Mumbai police have arrested one more person in connection with the killing of NCP leader and former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique, officials said on Tuesday. The accused has been identified as Harishkumar Balakram (23), hailing from Bahraich in Uttar Pradesh, an official said.

Balakram was working as a scrap dealer in Maharashtra’s Pune, he said, adding the accused was also part of the conspiracy to kill Baba Siddique.

He was arrested from Bahraich, the official said.

With this, four persons have so far been arrested in connection with Mr Siddique’s killing.

Police had earlier arrested Haryana resident Gurmail Baljit Singh (23), Uttar Pradesh native Dharmaraj Rajesh Kashyap (19), both alleged shooters, and “co-conspirator” Pravin Lonkar from Pune.

Another suspected shooter Shivkumar Gautam, who hails from Bahraich, is on the run.

Baba Siddique, 66, was waylaid by three persons in Mumbai’s Nirmal Nagar area, just outside his MLA son Zeeshan Siddique’s office, and shot at on Saturday night. He was rushed to the Lilavati Hospital where he was declared dead, according to police.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Mumbai:

Mumbai Police Crime Branch on Monday arrested Pravin Lonkar from Pune in connection with NCP leader Baba Siddique’s Murder case.

According to Mumbai Police, Pravin is the brother of Shubuu Lonkar who posted on social media that the Lawrence Bishnoi gang has taken responsibility for the murder.

Shubuu Lonkar is absconding at the moment. Police say Pravin Lonkar gave shelter to both the arrested accused in Pune.

Meanwhile, the ossification test of Dharmaraj Kashyap, an accused in the murder case of NCP leader and former Maharashtra Minister Baba Siddique, was conducted by Mumbai police, and it was confirmed that he is not a minor, officials said on Monday.

An ossification test is a medical procedure that estimates a person’s age by analyzing the degree of bone fusion and is commonly used for age determination.

Following the test results, Kashyap was presented before the court, which granted police custody till October 21. Mumbai’s Esplanade Court had ordered the ossification test after Kashyap’s lawyer claimed he was a minor.

According to officials, the arrested accused, identified as Pravin Lonkar (28), is the brother of Shubham Lonkar, who is also implicated in the conspiracy. They allegedly enlisted Dharmaraj Kashyap and Shivkumar Gautam in the plot to kill Siddique, officials said.

NCP leader Baba Siddique was murdered after being shot outside his office in Nirmal Nagar. He sustained multiple gunshot wounds before being rushed to Mumbai’s Lilavati Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries on Saturday night.

His last rites were performed with full state honours in Mumbai at Bada Qabrastan on Sunday.

Commenting on the law and order situation in Maharashtra, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said, “Yesterday’s incident of Baba Siddique’s murder is unfortunate and sad. Mumbai Police have arrested two persons–one from UP and the other from Haryana. The third accused is absconding… He will be arrested soon.

“They will not be spared, no matter who they are, be it the Bishnoi gang or any underworld gang. Strict action will be taken. Those who are receiving threats will have their safety ensured, as it is the state government’s responsibility,” he added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)