Baba Siddique case: Police say Anmol behind conspiracy, no links to Lawrence Bishnoi so far

The defence lawyers said that Lawrence Bishnoi and Anmol Bishnoi were part of the same gang, which the prosecutor opposed. “They (Lawrence and Anmol) are two separate gangs and so far Lawrence Bishnoi is not an accused in the case,” the special public prosecutor representing the Mumbai police submitted to the court.

Siddique was shot dead by assailants in Bandra (East) on October 12. So far, 26 persons are arrested in the case, including the alleged shooters.

The police had last month invoked stringent sections of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), claiming that the murder was the handiwork of an organised crime gang led by Anmol.

The police claimed that Anmol was trying to establish his supremacy as a gang leader.

The police sought the custody of the 13 accused to probe further into the financial aspect of the crime.

According to police, the gang operated in such a way that each person was given a role with only small links connecting them, and that a probe was needed to establish a chain.

Police also claimed that the gang was functioning in Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Maharashtra with people being “brainwashed” into becoming members of the gang to commit the offences.

The police also said that Anmol had sent Rs 40,000 to one of the accused and had gotten in touch with the gang members through social media apps like Snapchat.

Lawyer Siddharth Agarwal, appearing for two of the accused, said that the police had made arrests under pressure and there were no new grounds to seek further remand of the accused. The court sent the accused to the custody of the Mumbai police till December 16.

While Anmol is currently detained in the US, with the Mumbai police having initiated the process to attempt to extradite him, Lawrence is in a jail in Sabarmati, Gujarat.

Both Anmol and Lawrence are named as accused in the Salman Khan house firing case.