Baba Siddique murder: Probe points to role of Lawrence Bishnoi gang, likely contract killing, says police

While two of the three suspected shooters — Gurmail Singh from Haryana and Dharmaraj Kashyap from Uttar Pradesh — have been arrested, the third — Shivkumar Gautam, also from UP — is on the run. Police on Sunday named a fourth suspect, Mohamed Zeeshan Akhtar from Punjab, who is suspected to have been working with the Bishnoi gang.

While Lonkar, a resident of Akola, is absconding, police sources said his brother, Pravin, also suspected to be involved in the conspiracy, was arrested from Pune.

Ajit Pawar at Baba Siddique’s funeral, conducted with full state honours, in Mumbai on Sunday. (Express photo by Ganesh Shirshekar)

“Shubham Lonkar had put up the social media post claiming that Siddique was gunned down due to his earlier links to Dawood Ibrahim and the death of Anuj Thappan (one of the accused arrested in the firing outside actor Salman Khan’s residence, who allegedly died by suicide in the lock-up). He deleted the post within a few minutes. The police probe found that he was involved in hatching the conspiracy. He fled by the time we reached his Akola residence. We have, however, arrested his brother Pravin from Pune,” a police officer said.

Lonkar, a mid-level operative in the Bishnoi gang, is suspected to have hired two of the three suspected shooters who were working in a scrapyard in Pune, police said. According to police, Lonkar got to know the suspects as they were working next to a shop owned by him.

Police said Lonkar, who was arrested earlier this year for supplying weapons, was in direct contact with Bishnoi, who is currently lodged in Ahmedabad’s Sabarmati Central Jail. According to police investigations, he had made WhatsApp video calls to Bishnoi twice in 2022 and 2023, and had also received WhatsApp audio calls from three international numbers, including from the gangster’s brother, Anmol Bishnoi.

Bishnoi’s gang members are alleged to have been behind the firing outside actor Salman Khan’s Bandra residence in April. “So far, one thought Bishnoi was issuing threats to create fear among people in a bid to extort money. Why the gang decided to murder someone is part of the probe,” said a police officer.

Meanwhile, police said they were probing all angles, including possible political rivalry or business rivalry over a slum rehabilitation project, in the murder of Siddique, who was with the NCP (Ajit Pawar) and was guarded by three policemen.

While seeking 14-day custody of the two arrested so far, police told the court that the murder was a well-executed plan, and they needed to determine whether the accused planned to kill anyone else in view of the coming Maharashtra Assembly elections.

The court on Sunday sent Gurmail Singh and Dharmaraj Kashyap to police custody till October 21. Earlier in the day, the court had ordered a bone ossification test for Kashyap after he claimed to be a minor. Police said the test was conducted, and it was proved that he was not a minor. He was produced in the court late in the evening, and sent to police custody till October 21.

While the Haryana police have confirmed that Singh was jailed earlier in a murder case, the Uttar Pradesh police have said the two suspects from the state – Kashyap and Shivkumar Gautam who is on the run — did not have any criminal records.

“These accused stayed in Pune and Mumbai before committing the crime. We need to figure out who facilitated the weapon as well as the vehicle used in the crime,” Public Prosecutor Gautam Gaikwad told the court.

According to police, the suspects had been staying in Mumbai’s Kurla area for over a month, having rented an apartment for Rs 14,000 per month.

Gaikwad said the police were yet to ascertain the motive behind the killing and whether any gang from abroad was involved. “They took proper aim at Siddique. So we want to know whether they were provided any training and also who funded the whole operation,” he said.

The defence counsel, Siddharth Agarwal, claimed the police did not have any evidence. “The deceased person is a famous individual and may have had several enemies. So there is a possibility that the police may have falsely implicated them in the crime,” he said.

With two accused still absconding, police teams have been sent to Pune, Haryana, Delhi and Ujjain. Police officers said two weapons, with 28 live rounds, have been recovered from the arrested duo.

Meanwhile, a PTI report quoted Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who holds charge of the state home department, as saying that police were probing different angles and had found some leads. “Some leads have been found, but I cannot reveal them now. Some angles behind the attack are also found, but police will talk about it once the legal procedure is over,” he told reporters in Gondia district.

Baba Siddique, who switched from the Congress to the NCP (Ajit Pawar) earlier this year, represented Bandra (West) seat three times in the Assembly. He was known for his Iftar parties which were attended by top Bollywood stars.