On Friday, Mumbai Police detained five additional people in connection with the murder of NCP leader Baba Siddique, bringing the total number of arrests in the case to nine.
A Metropolitan Magistrate court in Mumbai ordered those arrested to remain in police custody till October 25. The arrests was done after police raided Karjat, Dombivli, and Navi Mumbai based on specific information. According to authorities, the five were in contact with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, which is accused of murdering Siddique.
“There have already been nine arrests in the case.” PTI quoted an unidentified police officer as adding that, “a further investigation is being conducted.”
Baba Siddique (66), a former Congress politician who became part of the Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party previously this year, was assassinated by three people in Mumbai’s Nirmal Nagar neighbourhood on October 12. The shooting happened on the outside his MLA son Zeeshan Siddique’s office.
Police have detained four people, including Haryana resident Gurmail Baljit Singh (23), Uttar Pradesh native Dharmaraj Rajesh Kashyap (19), both alleged shooters, Harishkumar Balakram Nisad (23), and “co-conspirator” Pravin Lonkar, who is from Pune. It is suspected that Pravin Lonkar’s brother, Shubham Lonkar, posted on Facebook that the Lawrence Bishnoi gang was responsible for Siddique’s murder. He is now fleeing.
Notably, Shubham Lonkar was previously questioned by police in June in connection with a shooting outside star Salman Khan’s home in Bandra, which was allegedly tied to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang network. He was released on bond.
The police have also confiscated three firearms – a high-end Australian-made Glock pistol, a Turkish pistol, and a country-made pistol – which have been sent to a forensic laboratory to be matched with the bullets discovered in Baba Siddique’s body.