The Lawrence Bishnoi gang has claimed responsibility for killing former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddiqui. This responsibility has been accepted through a post on social media. News from NDTV
The 66-year-old Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader was shot dead in Mumbai’s suburban East Bandra on Thursday night. He was staying near Bandra East MLA son Zeeshan Siddiqui’s office at the time of the incident.
According to the police, NDTV says that three gunmen were involved in the incident. Among them, Haryana resident Corneil Singh (23) and Uttar Pradesh’s Dharamraj Kashyap (19) have been caught by the police. Another Shiv Kumar Gautam from Uttar Pradesh was also involved in this murder. But he has not been arrested yet.
According to the police, another person was coordinating these three, he also escaped.
The assailants fired several rounds at Baba Siddiqui and his accomplice around 9:30 pm local time. The veteran politician was shot in the chest.
The notorious Bishnoi gang claimed responsibility for the murder in a social media post a few hours after the incident, NDTV wrote.
Indian central agencies are investigating the post on a Facebook account named Shibu Lankar. Investigators believe the account may belong to Bishnoi gang associate Shubham Rameshwar Lankar.
Shubham was arrested from Akola in Maharashtra earlier this year on charges of possession of illegal arms and is believed to have close links with the Bishnoi network. During police interrogation, Shubham admitted that he was in contact with Lawrence’s close brother Anmol Bishnoi through video calls.
After Siddiqui’s murder, investigators learned that the two gunmen, Dharamraj Kashyap and Shivakumar Gautam, were residents of Bahraich in Uttar Pradesh. The two neighbors worked as laborers in Pune before entering the crime world.
Bahraich Superintendent of Police Brinda Shukla said that although it is possible to arrest Dharamraj, Shiv Kumar is still absconding.
Neither had a criminal record in their hometown, NDTV wrote, adding that the two had developed an understanding while in a jail in Punjab. Sources believe that they wanted to gain notoriety by associating with Bishnoi gangs.
Police said the accused had been conducting surveillance on Siddiqui’s house and office for several months. An advance of Rs 50,000 was paid to each of the suspects for the attack. And the weapon was given a few days before the murder.
The two arrested suspects are now in police custody and a manhunt is on to nab the rest. Police have beefed up security at the Mumbai residence of Salman Khan, a close friend of Bollywood star Salman Khan, following the murder of Baba Siddiqui.
