New Delhi: Piecing together the plot that culminated in the 12 October killing of Baba Siddique, investigators are tracking a common thread spanning four states that binds together the accused. Central to this theory are a scrap shop in Pune, a village in Uttar Pradesh and the lesser-known brother of India’s most talked-about jailed gangster.
Mumbai police sources said the investigation so far indicates the plot to murder the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and former Maharashtra minister was hatched at least five-six months ago and can be broadly classified into three layers.
As ThePrint reported earlier, the accused did several recces of places Siddique frequented, tracking his movements for weeks, if not months. They even rented a flat in Kurla “around 25 days before the murder”.
Siddique, the 65-year-old municipal corporator-turned-MLA often in the news for hosting Iftar parties for the who’s who of Mumbai, was shot dead Saturday evening as he stepped out of son Zeeshan’s office in Bandra East. Police arrested two accused from the scene of crime, Dharamaraj Kashyap and Gurmail Singh, while a third accused fled.
Within hours of the killing, a now-deleted Facebook post by a suspected member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang (Shubham Lonkar) surfaced in which he claimed responsibility for the murder citing Siddique’s closeness to actor Salman Khan and alleged ties to fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim. Lonkar’s brother Praveen was arrested from Pune on 13 October, followed by the arrest of one Harishkumar Balakram from Uttar Pradesh’s Bahraich on 15 October in connection with the high-profile case.
Those still on the run include Shubham Lonkar, Shivkumar Gautam—the third accused to have fled from the crime scene—and Mohammad Zeeshan Akhtar, who investigators suspect played a central role in hatching the plot. Statements of as many as 15 people, including an eyewitness, have been recorded so far. Mumbai police maintain they are probing various angles, but arrests so far point in the direction of the Bishnoi gang.
Meanwhile, a chargesheet filed by the Navi Mumbai police has revealed that the Bishnoi gang put out a contract of Rs 25 lakh for actor Salman Khan’s murder. Five men accused in this case reportedly had plans to procure assault rifles from Pakistan and had formed teams of young men who had been tracking the actor’s movements closely, said the chargesheet.
Bahraich, Pune links to Siddique killing
Their probe into Baba Siddique’s killing led investigators to a scrap shop nestled in a busy lane in Pune, where they believe the conspiracy to murder the three-time MLA was hatched.
Police sources told ThePrint that Balakram instructed Kashyap and Gautam to relocate to Pune and work at said scrap shop. They had known each other for long, said sources, adding that Balakram was Gautam’s neighbour, and also a distant relative of Kashyap’s.
All three hail from Bahraich’s Gandara village. While Balakram and Gautam moved to Pune some years ago, Kashyap relocated this year.
“Initially, they were told they would be given jobs for quick money. They knew scrap dealing was a front and a big job awaited them,” said a source.
Unlike Gautam and Kashyap, co-accused Gurmail Singh from Haryana’s Kaithal as well as Akhtar, who is originally from Nakodar in Punjab’s Jalandhar district, have spent time behind bars.
Police sources said Akhtar met Singh and told him about the “big job” and how he was on the lookout for shooters and aides. By this time, Akhtar was already in touch with Lawrence Bishnoi’s brother Anmol who fled the country shortly after Sidhu Moosewala’s murder in May 2022. Akhtar, it is learnt, got in touch with members of the Bishnoi gang during his time in jail and they kept in touch through an encrypted messaging platform.
The investigation so far has led police to suspect that it was Akhtar who directed the other accused to track Siddique’s movements. “They didn’t do it earlier because Siddique was surrounded by people. This time, they took advantage that there was one police personnel on duty and there was a huge crowd for Dussehra which they used as cover,” said a second source.
The Lonkar brothers, it is learnt, were tasked with recruiting shooters and giving them shelter. “Shubham Lonkar is one of the key conspirators in the murder. He and Akhtar were in touch and coordinated the logistics, arms and delivery of the money for the job,” said the second source.
In addition to those involved in the case, investigators are also questioning suspects held in connection with the incident of firing outside Salman Khan’s Bandra residence in April, as well as those booked by Navi Mumbai police for hatching a plot to target the actor near his farmhouse in Panvel.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
Also Read: Who was Baba Siddique, ex-MLA who left Congress after 48 yrs to join NCP, hosted elite Iftar parties