Mumbai. The conspiracy to murder Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddiqui was hatched in Pune and the attackers (shooters) were provided with a photograph and a ‘flex banner’ to identify the target. Police gave this information on Monday.
The Mumbai Police Crime Branch, while investigating the murder of the 66-year-old leader on Saturday night, unearthed the alleged role of Pune-based Praveen Lonkar and his brother Shubham Lonkar in the conspiracy. A police officer said, “The motive behind the murder will be known after the arrest of the wanted accused.” The police have identified the Lonkar brothers as the main accused in this crime. Allegedly both of them provided financial help to the shooters, provided equipment as well as arranged for a meeting for the attack.
Praveen worked in a dairy owned by Shubham. He recruited shooters Shivkumar Gautam and Dharamraj Kashyap in the dairy itself. Officials said that the conspiracy was finalized after several meetings. He said huge payments were promised on successful implementation of the plan and an advance amount of Rs 50,000 was given to the shooters. He told that the attackers bought a motorcycle to spy on Siddiqui’s daily routine and his residence. He said that Praveen Lonkar is accused of preparing two shooters to target Siddiqui and the police has identified him as a “co-conspirator”.
Police have so far arrested three people, including Haryana resident Gurmel Baljit Singh (23) and Uttar Pradesh resident Dharamraj Rajesh Kashyap (19), while the third person is Praveen Lonkar. Police have intensified the search for suspected “handlers” Mohammad Yasin Akhtar and Gautam. A police officer said that investigation revealed that Gautam had called Kashyap, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, to work with him in Pune three months ago.
He told that after this, Gautam started living on rent in Vinoba Bhave Nagar area of Kurla, Mumbai in September 2023. He also included Singh in the conspiracy. The officer said that an advance of Rs 50,000 each was given to the three attackers – Singh, Kashyap and Gautam. The officer said that till the murder of Siddiqui on Saturday night, the three attackers were in constant touch with their handlers.
He told that Gautam started firing at Siddiqui while Kashyap and Singh were standing behind him. Kashyap had some spray, which he sprayed on Siddiqui after he was shot. The police officer said that Kashyap and Singh were arrested from Bandra, while Gautam is absconding. He said that prima facie, Shubham Lonkar had posted on Facebook holding Lawrence Bishnoi gang responsible for the attack. The post has now been removed, but the screenshot is circulating widely.
Nine criminal cases against Mohammed Yasin Akhtar, suspect in Baba Siddiqui murder case: Police
Chandigarh/Mumbai/Bhopal/Lucknow. Punjab Police on Monday said nine heinous criminal cases, including murder and attempt to murder, have been registered against Mohammed Yasin Akhtar, the suspect in the Mumbai murder case of Nationalist Congress Party leader and former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddiqui.
Police said that Akhtar (21) is a resident of Shankar village in Jalandhar district of Punjab.
A police officer in Jalandhar said that nine cases were registered against Akhtar alias Jassi alias Sikandar in different police stations. Nakodar Deputy Superintendent of Police Sukhpal Singh said that there are serious charges against him like murder, attempt to murder and robbery. He said that two criminal cases are registered against Akhtar in Kaithal, Haryana. Police said Akhtar was arrested in a criminal case in June 2022 and did not return to his village after being released from jail in June this year.
Akhtar is suspected to be connected to notorious criminal Vikram Brar. Akhtar’s father Mohammad Jamil Akhtar and brother were not found in the village and their house was found locked. Akhtar used to work in laying stones and tiles. Akhtar’s mother and sister have died. Mumbai Police has arrested two alleged attackers, Gurmel Baljit Singh, a resident of Haryana, and Dharamraj Rajesh Kashyap, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, in connection with the shooting and death of Siddiqui (66) in Mumbai’s Bandra area on Saturday night. The third accused is absconding.
The third accused Lonkar was sent to police custody till October 21.
Praveen Lonkar, the third accused arrested in the murder case of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddiqui, was sent to police custody till October 21 by the court here on Monday. According to police, 28-year-old Lonkar was arrested from Pune on Sunday. He is accused of hiring two of the three shooters who fired on Siddiqui for this purpose. Siddiqui was murdered on Saturday night.
Praveen Lonkar was produced in the court of Magistrate VR Patil. During the hearing, the police requested for the custody of the accused to interrogate and uncover the conspiracy of this sensational murder. According to the police, Praveen Lonkar’s brother Shubham is allegedly linked to jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi. The prosecution claimed that Shubham Lonkar and other wanted accused conspired to murder 66-year-old former Bandra (West) MLA Siddiqui and provided weapons to the shooter.
He told the court that Praveen Lonkar has to be taken to Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar for further investigation and hence his custody is required. Advocate Prashant Badkar, representing Praveen Lonkar, rejected the allegations of the prosecution and claimed that his client was being made a ‘scapegoat’ as the police had failed to arrest Shubham Lonkar. The advocate argued that the murder case is sensitive, but there cannot be any allegation of conspiracy against Praveen Lonkar, who runs a dairy shop.
Mumbai Police reached places of worship in Ujjain and Khandwa in search of suspected shooter.
The search in Madhya Pradesh for the suspected shooter wanted in the murder of former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddiqui continued for the second consecutive day on Monday. Officials said joint teams of Mumbai and Madhya Pradesh police are focusing on places of worship in Ujjain and Khandwa. A day after Siddiqui’s murder, a team of Mumbai Police reached Madhya Pradesh on Sunday. This team is in Madhya Pradesh to trace absconding shooter Shiv Kumar Gautam.
Police have so far arrested three suspects in the Baba Siddiqui murder case – Haryana resident Gurmel Baljeet Singh (23), Uttar Pradesh resident Dharamraj Rajesh Kashyap (19) and Pune resident ‘co-conspirator’ Praveen Lonkar. Suspected ‘handler’ Mohammad Zishan Akhtar is also wanted in the case. Ujjain and Khandwa are famous for the famous Mahakal and Omkareshwar temples, which are visited by thousands of devotees every day. Along with Mumbai Police, Madhya Pradesh Police is also involved in the search for the accused shooter Gautam, a resident of Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh.
When asked whether the escaped shooter was a religious person who might have visited these famous temples, a police officer avoided a direct answer and said that the police were keeping an eye on other places as well. Khandwa is not far from Amravati and Jalgaon in Maharashtra.
Bahraich’s absconding suspect wrote on social media, “Yaar tera gangster hai jaani”
Shiv Kumar Gautam, the absconding suspect from Uttar Pradesh in the Baba Siddiqui murder case, had recently started posting on social media calling himself a ‘gangster’ to show off his pride. While sharing his photo on Instagram on July 24, Gautam had written, “Yaar tera gangster hai jaani.” It is seen in the photo that he is riding a motorcycle. A Haryanvi song is playing in the background of the post.
Gautam is a resident of Gandara village of Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh. Locals and police said he had no criminal history in the village and worked at a scrap shop in Maharashtra’s Pune city. On July 8, Gautam had posted a post in which it was written, “Sharif is the father # not us.” He had shared a video on May 26, in which the music of ‘KGF’ and the famous dialogue “Powerful people come from powerful places” was playing in the background. It is noteworthy that before her death, the mother of the lead character of ‘KGF’ had taken a promise from him that no matter how he lives, he will die as the richest man in the world.
The interesting thing is that the number of people following Gautam on Instagram has increased tremendously overnight. On Sunday, 299 people followed him on the site. On Monday, the number of his followers increased to 504. Gautam’s mother Suman expressed surprise and disbelief at the police’s claim that her son was involved in the sensational murder of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Baba Siddiqui on the night of October 12 in Kher Nagar in Mumbai’s Bandra area. Suman told the media that her son had come to Gandara village for the last time to meet her on Holi. He claimed that Gautam had gone back to Pune in the first week of April.
Gautam’s last post on Instagram was on August 4. He had shared a photo of himself on the site, in which he was seen riding a motorcycle. On April 10, Gautam had posted a video, in which he was seen working in a warehouse and packing orders. He had written, “We do this work of preparing orders.” Most of Gautam’s other posts were related to heartbreak. In one post he had written about being proud of religion. He shared a total of 33 posts on his Instagram account from May 20, 2023 to August 4 this year.