Mumbai: The conspiracy to murder NCP Ajit faction leader Baba Siddique was being made 3 months ago. The accused had also visited Baba’s house several times without weapons. The revelations have been made by the Mumbai Crime Branch on Tuesday night.
According to the police, the entire planning was done in Pune. Shooters Gurmail Singh and Dharmaraj Kashyap learned shooting by watching videos on YouTube. These people used to practice shooting without magazines in Mumbai.
Baba Siddique was shot dead on the night of October 12. He was in his son Zeeshan’s office in Bandra. As soon as he came out, 6 bullets were fired at him.
After the incident, the police arrested three accused. The fourth accused Harish Balakram was arrested from Bahraich on October 15. 3 are still absconding. Lawrence Bishnoi’s gang has taken responsibility for the murder.
The Mumbai Crime Branch has so far recorded the statements of more than 15 people, including many eyewitnesses present at the time of the incident.
The fourth accused Harish Balakram, who was arrested on October 15, was the middleman. Arrested accused Praveen and Shubham Lonkar (absconding) gave Rs 2 lakh to the arrested shooters Gurmail Singh and Dharamraj Kashyap. This money was delivered through Harish. Harish is the cousin of Praveen and Shubham.
Along with the money, two mobile phones were also provided to the shooters, Harish has been living in Pune for the last 9 years. The accused used Snapchat app for chatting and Instagram for making calls.
To identify Baba Siddiqui, the accused were given Baba’s photo and were told that he was the target. The house and office were also recced 25 days before the incident.