Man who shot Baba Siddique arrested, admits to being part of Lawrence Bishnoi gang

Shiv Kumar, the man who shot NCP leader Baba Siddique, was arrested in Uttar Pradesh’s Bahraich on Sunday.

He had been on the run since the killing of Baba Siddique and was trying to flee to Nepal, when he was caught in a joint operation of the UP Special Task Force (STF) and the Mumbai Crime Branch.

He had used a 9.9 mm pistol to kill Baba Siddique and fired a total of six rounds at the former Maharashtra minister on October 12 outside his son MLA Zeeshan Siddique’s office building in Bandra East. A total of three shooters were involved in Baba Siddique’s killing, all of whom have now been arrested.

Apart from Shiv Kumar, four others have been arrested for giving shelter to Shiv Kumar and helping him escape to Nepal.

During the investigation, Shiv Kumar admitted to being associated with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. One of the members of the gang had claimed responsibility for Baba Siddique’s murder a day after he was shot dead.

Shiv Kumar revealed that the murder was carried out on the instructions of Lawrence Bishnoi’s brother, Anmol Bishnoi. Shiv Kumar also stated that his contact with Anmol Bishnoi was facilitated multiple times by Shubham Lonkar, who is believed to be a close aide of Lawrence Bishnoi.

The Mumbai Police had earlier said that Anmol Bishnoi was in touch with Baba Siddique’s shooters before he was shot. The police also said that Anmol Bishnoi used the social media application Snapchat to communicate with the accused.

He had also shared the image of Baba Siddique’s son, Zeeshan Siddique, with the shooters, the police had said. Also known as ‘Bhanu’, Anmol Bishnoi fled India on a fake passport, was spotted in Kenya last year and in Canada this year.

He is wanted in connection with the firing incident at actor Salman Khan’s residence and the killing of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moosewala in 2022.

The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has added Anmol Bishnoi’s name to its most-wanted list and announced a reward of Rs 10 lakh for any information leading to his arrest.

With Shiv Kumar’s arrest, 23 people have been arrested in Baba Siddique’s murder case so far.