'Co-conspirator' held from Pune in Baba Siddique murder case; 3rd arrest so far

MUMBAI: The Mumbai police have arrested a 28-year-old man from Pune who along with his brother “enlisted” two of the three alleged shooters in the Baba Siddique murder case, an official said. Police called the man, Pravin Lonkar, a “co-conspirator” and said they are on the lookout of his brother Shubham Lonkar. This is the third arrest in the case of Siddique's murder.

NCP leader and former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique (66) was waylaid by three persons at Kher Nagar in Mumbai's Bandra area just outside his MLA son Zeeshan Siddique's office and shot at on Saturday night. He was rushed to the Lilavati Hospital where he was declared dead, according to Mumbai police.

A crime branch official on Sunday said Pravin and Shubham “enlisted” two alleged shooters - UP resident Dharmaraj Rajesh Kashyap and Shivkumar Gautam.

While Gautam is on the run, police have arrested Kashyap and another alleged shooter, identified as Gurmail Baljit Singh (23), a native of Haryana.

The official said police went to Pune looking for Shubham Lonkar but did not find him there. They then nabbed his brother Pravin for his alleged involvement in the crime, he said.

A Mumbai court on Sunday remanded Singh in police custody till October 21 and ordered a bone ossification test on Kashyap after he claimed he was a minor.

The ossification test was conducted in which it was proved Kashyap is not minor, an official said on Monday.

He was produced before the court and sent to police custody till October 21, he said.

Police have recovered two pistols and 28 live bullets from the two apprehended shooters.

The police have set up 15 teams which fanned out of Maharashtra and a probe is on to identify who provided logistical support to the shooters, officials said.

The Mumbai police were also verifying a social media post, attributed to a purported member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, owning up to the murder of Siddique.

The crime branch was also probing various angles, including a possible contract killing, business or political rivalry or threat over a slum rehabilitation project, according to officials.

Siddique was laid to rest on Sunday night with state honours in the presence of a large number of people and political leaders across the spectrum amid tight security.

The Mumbai police accorded a guard of honour to the NCP leader amid rain at Bada Kabrastan in the Marine Lines area.

After spending decades in the Congress, Siddique, who won from Mumbai's Bandra West assembly seat in 1999, 2004 and 2009, joined Ajit Pawar’s NCP earlier this year.

Siddique had earned praise for supplying life-saving medicines to patients during the COVID-19 pandemic.

He was also known for his grand Iftar parties that were attended by top Bollywood actors.

A prominent Muslim leader from Mumbai, Siddique was also known to be close to several Bollywood stars, including Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and Sanjay Dutt.