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:

Bollywood actor Salman Khan has been issued a death threat, allegedly by the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, demanding Rs 5 crore to “end the enmity”. A WhatsApp message, sent to Mumbai Traffic Police, warned that if the money is not paid, then the actor’s fate would be worse than that of former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique, who was murdered recently, allegedly by Bishnoi gang members.

“Don’t take this lightly. If Salman Khan wants to stay alive and end the enmity with Lawrence Bishnoi, he must pay Rs 5 crore. If the money is not given, his condition will be worse than Baba Siddiqui’s,” the threat message read. 

According to sources, the Mumbai Police is working to track the origins of the message and have increased security around Mr Khan’s Bandra residence. The actor has been on high alert following previous threats, and this recent development has added renewed concerns about his safety.

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

Yesterday, the Navi Mumbai Police arrested a key member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. The accused, identified as Sukha alias Sukhbir Balbir Singh, was apprehended in Haryana’s Panipat and has been linked to an alleged plot to assassinate Mr Khan. Singh had reportedly given a contract to other gang members to carry out the attack on the actor.

According to police sources, Singh had been in direct contact with his handler, Dogar, a Pakistani-based figure, to coordinate the planned attack. The gang had allegedly intended to use high-powered firearms, including AK-47s, M16s, and AK-92s, smuggled from Pakistan to execute the plot. 

Singh’s arrest is the latest in a series of breakthroughs in a broader investigation into the Bishnoi gang’s conspiracy against Mr Khan. Earlier this year, the Navi Mumbai police registered an FIR against 18 individuals from the gang for plotting to kill the actor. The FIR followed a shocking incident in which members of the gang fired outside Mr Khan’s Bandra residence.

READ | “Wanted Canada To Extradite Bishnoi Gang Members”: India On Diplomatic Row

Among the accused named in the case are high-profile members of the Bishnoi gang, including Lawrence Bishnoi himself, his brother Anmol, Sampat Nehra, Goldie Brar, and Rohit Godhara. These individuals have long been linked to organised criminal activity across North India and have become notorious for their brazen threats and acts of violence.

The ongoing police investigation has uncovered disturbing details about the gang’s planning. Police sources revealed that the Bishnoi gang had deployed between 60 to 70 operatives to monitor Mr Khan’s movements. These individuals conducted reconnaissance at various locations, including Mr Khan’s Bandra residence, his Panvel farmhouse, and the actor’s shooting locations. The gang even attempted to recruit minors to act as sharpshooters.

This is not the first time Mr Khan has been the target of death threats linked to the Bishnoi gang. In 2022, a letter threatening the actor was discovered on a bench near his residence, and in March 2023, the actor received an email allegedly sent by members of the gang. In January 2024, two unidentified individuals attempted to trespass into Mr Khan’s Panvel farmhouse using fake identities, an incident that prompted the actor to increase security around his property.

Mr Khan’s feud with Lawrence Bishnoi dates back several years. The gangster, currently imprisoned, has reportedly harboured a grudge against the actor over his alleged involvement in the 1998 blackbuck poaching case. The Bishnoi community reveres the blackbuck, and the incident is the primary reason why the gang seeks revenge. 

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.