Three accused in politician Baba Siddique’s murder are now in police custody, including a co-conspirator and another whose claim of being a minor has been ruled out by a bone ossification test.
Mumbai Police investigating the murder case of veteran NCP leader Baba Siddique, who was shot dead near his son’s office in Mumbai’s Bandra on Saturday, conducted an ossification test of accused Dharmaraj Kashyap in which it was proved that he is not a minor.
Kashyap, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, was produced before the court where his lawyer claimed that he was a minor.
Baba Siddique, 66, was shot dead by three persons at Kher Nagar in Mumbai’s Bandra area outside his MLA son Zeeshan Siddique’s office on Saturday night. He was cremated with full state honours in Mumbai on Sunday evening.
Among the three shooters, Gurmel Baljit Singh, 23, a resident of Haryana has also been arrested, while the third shooter, Shiv Kumar from Uttar Pradesh, is still on the run.
According to sources, the suspects have claimed that they work for gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, who is lodged at Gujarat’s Sabarmati jail.
Bishnoi was also involved in the shooting incident outside the Mumbai residence of Bollywood actor Salman Khan, who is known to have been a close friend of Mr Siddique.
The suspects had been monitoring Mr Siddique for months, conducting reconnaissance of his residence and office. The police revealed that the suspects were paid ₹ 50,000 each in advance for the hit and that arms had been delivered to them only days before the assassination.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said the third accused will be arrested “soon”. “Be it the Bishnoi gang or any underworld gang, we won’t spare anyone,” he told reporters.
On Sunday evening, Mumbai Police’s crime branch also arrested 28-year-old Pravin Lonkar, a “co-conspirator” in the case, from Pune. They said they were on the lookout for his brother, Shubham Lonkar.
The brothers had hatched the conspiracy of Mr Siddique’s murder and enlisted Kashyap and Kumar Gautam in the plot.