The mortal remains of former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique being brought to Bada Qabrastan for the last rites, in Mumbai, Sunday, Oct. 13, 2024. Baba Siddique was shot dead by three persons on Saturday night at the city’s Bandra area.
PTI
Mumbai: As the Mumbai police made some headway into the sensational murder of former minister and NCP leader Baba Siddique, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday assured that the killers would not be spared and would be hanged.
A massive manhunt has been launched to track down Mohammad Zeeshan Akhtar, a resident of Jalandhar in Punjab, who is one of the key accused. A history-sheeter, he had around nine cases registered in Punjab and Haryana.
The role of six persons have come to light behind the killing of which three have been arrested.
“Rest assured…no one would be spared…we will ensure that the killers of Baba Siddique are hanged,” Shinde told reporters in Mumbai.
As the Crime Branch-CID deep dived, it appears that dispute over Slum Redevelopment Authority (SRA) projects in Bandra could be one of the possible reasons.
Besides, the supari (contract) might have been given to jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, however, available derails and links are being cross-checked and verified.
“Politics and real estate go together and the police are investigating this angle thoroughly,” police sources said, however, did not confirm whether there was a property dispute angle but clearly did not rule out the possibility.
The key to the conspiracy is Mohammed Zeeshan Akhtar, who was the handler of the three youths - Gurmail Singh from Haryana, Dharamraj Kashyap and Shivkumar Gautam, both of whom are from Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh.
While Gurmail Singh and Dharmaraj Kashyap have been caught by police and locals, Shivkumar Gautam has managed to escape.
Zeeshan Akhtar was in Patiala jail, where he connected with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, however, he secured bail on 7 June, 2024 and since then has not been seen.
Two other accused are Lonkar brothers - Pravin Lonkar and Shubham Lonkar - who had played some role. While Pravin is arrested Subham is absconding. They hail from Akola and work in Pune. Pravin has been remanded to police custody till 21 October.
The Lonkar brothers are involved in recruiting the shooters. Shivkumar Gautam and Dharmraj Kashyap worked in a scrap shop near Pravin Lonkar's dairy in Pune.
As of now Mumbai police teams are in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi, Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab.