Mumbai, Oct 21 (PTI) Firearms used in the murder of NCP leader and former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique were sourced from Rajasthan by two of the arrested accused, the Mumbai police said on Monday citing their investigation.
The duo, Ram Kanoujia and Bhagwat Singh Om Singh, had gone to Rajasthan to collect two of the three pistols, both foreign made, used by gunmen to kill Siddique on October 12 in Mumbai’s Bandra area, an official said.
The former state minister was fatally shot by three gunmen near the office of his MLA-son Zeeshan.
The Mumbai police’s crime branch, probing the sensational murder, has so far arrested 10 persons in connection with the case, including two alleged shooters Gurmail Singh, a Haryana native, and Dharmaraj Kashyap, a Uttar Pradesh resident. The third shooter, Shivkumar Gautam, is on the run along with some other persons who were involved in the murder conspiracy.
During interrogation of the accused persons, it came to light that Kanoujia and Singh had gone to the desert state in July, three months before the high-profile crime, to collect the pistols used in the murder, informed the official.
Originally from Udaipur in Rajasthan, Singh (32) was working as a scrap dealer in Navi Mumbai at the time of his arrest.
The duo had taken the delivery of the weapons from a man whose clothes matched with the description provided to them prior to their meeting, he said.
The Mumbai police, with the help of their Rajasthan counterparts, are now searching for the man who provided them the firearms, the official said.
The Mumbai cops were also trying to find out how the weapons landed in Rajasthan as they were of foreign origin, he said.
During investigation, it was also revealed that accused persons had collected the photos of Siddique (66) from social medial platforms, including Instagram, the official informed.
The probe team is treading cautiously as the arrested accused are providing misleading information during their interrogation, he said.
Crime branch teams have intensified their search for the absconding accused, especially Gautam, a Uttar Pradesh resident who was the main shooter, according to the official. PTI DC RSY
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