Mumbai, Oct 15 (PTI) Mumbai Police has arrested one more person in connection with the killing of NCP leader and former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique, claiming that he provided money and weapons for the crime.
Harishkumar Balakram Nisad (23), hailing from Bahraich in Uttar Pradesh and the fourth person to be arrested in the case, was on Tuesday remanded in police custody till October 21 by a court here.
Nisad worked as a scrap dealer in Warje area of Pune city, said a police official. A team of Mumbai crime branch apprehended him from Bahraich on Monday.
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 also hails from Bahraich, is on the run.
Nisad was produced before additional chief judicial magistrate V R Patil. He had provided money to the co-accused and a probe was necessary to find “the upper link and lower link” with regard to financial assistance and ascertain how he supplied weapons used in the crime, police told the court.
Nisad and Kashyap belong to the same village as the wanted accused Shivkumar Gautam.
Nisad’s lawyer, Ajay Dubey, opposed the remand plea, saying that the accused was a “victim of circumstances and a scapegoat”. But the magistrate noted that the offence was serious, and his custodial interrogation was necessary.
Nisad, along with Kashyap, Gautam, Pravin Lonkar and Pravin’s brother Shubham, was part of the conspiracy to kill Siddique, police have said.
Baba Siddique (66), a former Congress leader who had joined the Nationalist Congress Party earlier this year, was waylaid by three persons in Mumbai’s Nirmal Nagar area, just outside his MLA son Zeeshan Siddique’s office, and shot on Saturday night.
The Mumbai crime branch has formed various teams to nab Shivkumar Gautam, accused Mohammed Zeeshan Akhtar and other persons wanted in the case.
It was probing various angles, including a possible contract killing, business or political rivalry or threat over a slum rehabilitation project, according to officials.
A prominent Muslim leader from Mumbai, Siddique was also known to be close to several Bollywood stars, including Salman Khan.
Suspected shooter Gautam hails from Gandara village in Bahraich district, where locals and police said he had no criminal history. They said he had gone to work at a scrap shop in Pune.
Gautam had posted some online content in recent months, flaunting his “gangster” status.
Pravin Lonkar is accused of “enlisting” two of the three alleged shooters who opened fire at Siddique.
As per the police, Pravin Lonkar’s brother Shubham Lonkar, who is yet to be apprehended, was allegedly associated with jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi. Shubham Lonkar was also part of the conspiracy to kill Siddique, officials claimed.
Police were also verifying a social media post of “Shubu Lonkar”, a purported member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, owning up to the murder of Siddique. It is suspected that Shubham Lonkar had posted it.
They have also written to the Facebook and Instagram authorities, seeking more details about the post, the police said.
Meanwhile, crime branch seized an Apache motorbike which was allegedly used by the accused for conducting recce of Siddique’s residence `Maqba Heights’ and his office in Kher Nagar, officials said. Also, a bag with a pistol and some papers was found near the crime scene and police were probing if it was related to Siddique’s killing.
The accused were in Mumbai for one and a half months prior to the crime, said an official.
As per the investigators, Shubham Lonkar was under police watch till the last week of September, but after that he vanished.
Shubham Lonkar had been arrested in January in an Arms Act case registered at Akot police station in Maharashtra’s Akola district but he later got bail. Police had recovered more than ten firearms in that case, an official said.
Subham had been found to be in communication with Lawrence Bishnoi’s brother Anmol, he said.
Shubham and Pravin Lonkar ran a dairy in Pune’s Warje area. Shubham was picked by Mumbai Police in June for questioning after the firing incident outside Salman Khan’s residence here in April as the Bishnoi gang’s involvement was suspected.
But he was let off as no evidence was found. Still, he was kept under surveillance, but on September 24 he became untraceable.
Shubham has knowledge of messaging apps, and had asked all the members involved in the Siddique murder conspiracy to speak through Instagram and chat through Snapchat to avoid surveillance, the official added.
Nisad came to Pune when he was only 15 years old and started a scrap business. Three years ago, he called Shivkumar Gautam to Pune from Baharaich to work with him, and called Dharmaraj Kashyap three months ago.
Pravin and Shubham Lonkar allegedly provided around Rs 2 lakh to Nisad who passed it to the shooters, the official said.
Gautam was hired for shooting Siddique as he had past ‘experience’ of `celebratory firing’ in marriage processions in Uttar Pradesh, he added.
The shooters did “dry practise” (shooting without bullets) at the Kurla house rented in Gautam’s name, the official said. PTI DC ZA AVI GK ARU KRK
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