Mumbai crime branch invokes MCOCA in Baba Siddique murder case

Officials from the crime branch confirmed the development and said relevant sections of MCOCA against gangster Lawrence Bishnoi’s brother and other gang members have been invoked. The case will now be transferred to an ACP rank officer for further investigation and court proceedings. This would make the case stronger.

A crime branch officer said once MCOCA is invoked, the arrested accused in the case will remain behind bars for a longer period and will not get bail easily. The investigating officer will also get more police custody and six months’ time to file a chargesheet.

Another police officer said Anmol Bishnoi and another arrested accused have multiple serious criminal cases against them. These cases attract imprisonment for more than 10 years, hence it meets the criteria to invoke provisions of the MCOCA against them.

Lawrence Bishnoi, who is the head of the gang, is facing multiple high-profile murder and extortion cases, and is currently lodged in Sabarmati jail.

Baba Siddique (66) was shot dead by three assailants on October 12 outside his son Zeeshan’s office in Bandra. Investigation revealed that the attack was orchestrated by the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. Two suspected shooters, Gurmail Singh from Haryana and Dharmaraj Kashyap from Uttar Pradesh, were arrested at the scene.

The main accused, Shivkumar Gautam, also known as Shiva, was apprehended in Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh, on November 10. According to the police, Shiva was planning to flee to Nepal and was allegedly in direct contact with Anmol.