Mumbai, Oct 23 (PTI) In a breakthrough in NCP politician Baba Siddique’s murder case, police arrested a Haryana native, suspected to be an important link between a shooter and the mastermind of the conspiracy, an official said on Wednesday.
The latest arrest took the number of persons in the custody of Mumbai Police to 11.
The 11th accused, identified as Amit Hisamsing Kumar, 29, was nabbed from Haryana after his role in the crime came to the fore during the interrogation of other accused in custody.
Police suspect Kumar was involved in hatching the murder conspiracy and its execution. Some suspected financial dealings involving him and other accused are also under the scanner, the official said.
Kumar is an important link between one of the shooters in custody Gurmail Singh and the alleged mastermind Mohammed Zeeshan Akhtar, who is absconding, according to police.
As per the preliminary investigation, Akhtar was the common link between shooters and murder conspirators, the official said.
Kumar was nabbed on Tuesday evening from Haryana by a crime branch team and brought to Mumbai on Wednesday morning. He was remanded in police custody till November 4.
Siddique, 66, was shot dead outside his MLA son Zeeshan Siddique’s office in Bandra area of Mumbai on October 12.
Investigators have not yet established the motive behind the murder. They are probing the crime from different angles, including contract killing, business rivalry or threats over a slum rehabilitation project in Mumbai.
Police have so far arrested ten persons, including two suspected shooters- Dharmaraj Kashyap and Gurmail Singh- while the main shooter Shivkumar Gautam and two conspirators are on the run.
The investigation in the sensational murder case so far suggested a five-member Thane-based contract killing module was initially given the contract to kill the former Maharashtra minister.
The module, however, backed out of the contract over disagreement on demanding a sum of Rs 50 lakh for executing the crime and given the clout of the late politician even though they provided logistical support and other help for carrying out the hit, according to police.
Police have widened the dragnet in search of wanted accused Gautam, Shubham Lonkar and Akhtar against whom a look-out circular has been issued to prevent them from fleeing the country. PTI DC NSK
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