Mumbai: Hours before killing Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Baba Siddique, his shooters spoke to gangster, Lawrence Bishnoi’s cousin Anmol Bishnoi, claimed Mumbai Police, according to reports.
Anmol Bishnoi had communicated with Siddique’s shooters via the messaging app Snapchat and had shared photos of the politician and his son MLA Zeeshan Siddique, reported The Times of India.
Police claimed that most of the communication was removed from the app. But, Mumbai crime branch sleuths managed to access some of the undeleted conversations.
Cops suspected that Snapchat was used for exchanging messages as the conversation shared via the app disappears after 24 hours.
‘Shooters had practiced aiming at targets in the forest’
“We have identified two layers—the shooters themselves and the weapon suppliers. Now, we are getting closer to the third layer, which could involve the conspirators and those who issued the killing contract,” police said, as quoted by the Hindustan Times.
The shooters had practised aiming at targets with guns in the forest for at least five sessions before carrying out the attack. The practice sessions took place in September. They had reportedly aimed at trees.
On October 12, three miscreants shot multiple bullets at Siddique, who was on his way to his son’s office. Later, the Bishnoi gang claimed responsibility for the murder on social media.
Arrests so far…
At least ten people have been arrested in the Baba Siddique murder case, including two suspected shooters and a weapon supplier, reported the ANI. Shivkumar Gautam considered the primary shooter, and a few others involved in the shootout are still at large.