Mumbai/Pune: In the Baba Siddique murder case, the Mumbai Crime Branch arrested Shubham Lonkar in Pune on Monday, taking the total number of arrests to four. Lonkar is the brother of one Shubuu Lonkar—currently at large—who had allegedly posted on social media that the Lawrence Bishnoi gang claimed the responsibility for the murder, the Economic Times reported.
Three men waylaid Siddique, 66, a former Maharashtra minister who joined the Ajit Pawar-led NCP in February this year after quitting the Congress, at Kher Nagar in Mumbai’s Bandra area just outside his MLA son Zeeshan Siddique’s office and shot him dead on the night of October 18.
Shubham Lonkar had allegedly provided shelter to two suspects, who had been arrested earlier, in Pune, reports claimed. Earlier, Gurmail Singh—one of the main accused—was arrested. He has been sent to Mumbai Crime Branch custody until October 21.
Dharmaraj Rajesh Kashyap was arrested from Uttar Pradesh as one of the main suspects in the case. During the court proceedings, Kashyap’s lawyer claimed he was a minor. Later, the court ordered an ossification test of Kashyap on Sunday in which it was proved that he was not a minor. Kashyap was later sent to police custody till October 21
The third accused—Shivkumar Gautam—remains absconding. The three accused – Dharmaraj, Gurmail Singh, and Shivkumar, were at the venue to shoot Baba Siddique, news reports claimed. Reports stated that Shivkumar was the one who led the two others to fire shots at Siddique.
The police have also arrested Pravin Lonkar from Pune. Pravin Lonkar is one of the conspirators who, along with Shubham Lonkar, enlisted Dharmaraj Kashyap and Shivkumar Gautam in the plot, Mumbai police said, as quoted by Economic Times.
Another person linked to the crime, Mohammed Zeeshan Akhtar from Jalandhar, has not been arrested yet, reported the Hindustan Times.
Does Lawrence Bishnoi has links with Pak terrorist?
Meanwhile, an old video call from June 2024, featuring Lawrence Bishnoi and a Pakistani gangster is doing the rounds on social media. In the video, Bishnoi, who is lodged in a Gujarat prison, is seen sending greetings to Shahzad Bhatti, a gangster from Pakistan, using a mobile phone.
In this August Criminal #LawrenceBishnoi allegedly called Pakistani terrorist Shehzad Bhatti from Gujarat jail. He can be seen greeting him with Eid wishes..
This is the reality of this terrorist and some people have made him their father because of their hatred for #SalmanKhan… pic.twitter.com/yfPDgbBkFp
— suryansh (@suryansh213) October 13, 2024