The conspiracy to kill NCP leader Baba Siddique was hatched 3 months ago and the accused had recced the area where Baba Siddique's house is located several times without weapons before gunning down Siddique on Saturday (October 12) night in Bandra east when the NCP leader was returning from his MLA son Zeeshan Siddique's office. According to the information received from Mumbai Crime Branch, the entire planning of Baba Siddique's murder was carried out in Pune, the Mumbai Police said, according to news agency ANI.
The Mumbai Crime Branch has so far recorded the statements of more than 15 people, including many eyewitnesses who were present at the time of the incident, the Mumbai police said.
The fourth accused named Harish arrested in Baba Siddique murder case played the 'middleman role' in the conspiracy to kill Baba Siddique. Arrested accused Praveen Lonkar, brother of accused Shubham Lonkar (absconding) had given Rs 2 lakh to the arrested shooters Gurmail Singh and Dharamraj Kashyap and this money was delivered through the fourth accused Harish.
Along with the money, two mobile phones were also provided to the shooters. Accused Harish has been living in Pune for the last 9 years. The investigation also revealed that the accused used Snapchat app for chatting and Instagram to call, said Mumbai Police.
How Did The Accused Learn To Shoot?
The accused shooters Gurmail Singh and Dharamraj Kashyap learned to shoot weapon by watching videos on YouTube and used to practice shooting (without a magazine) in Mumbai. Mumbai Crime Branch has arrested 4 accused so far in the case while three accused are still absconding and search is underway to nab them.
Mumbai Police said that in the black coloured bag found today in connection with the case, they found a 7.62 MM gun.
To identify Baba Siddique, the accused was given Baba Siddique's photo and banner photo and was told that this was the target. The house and office were also recced 25 days before the incident, Mumbai Police informed.
