Shiv Kumar Gautam, the main accused and one of the three shooters in the Baba Siddique murder case, was arrested today from Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh. Sources said he was trying to flee to Nepal. Four others -- Anurag Kashyap, Gyan Prakash Tripathi, Akash Srivastava and Akhileshendra Pratap Singh - have been arrested for giving shelter to Shivkumar and helping him escape to Nepal.
Siddique, 66, was shot dead by three gunmen in Mumbai's Bandra area on October 12 and earlier, 20 people -- including the two other shooters -- were arrested in the case.
The man -- on the run since the murder of the NCP leader and former Maharashtra minister last month - was caught in a joint operation of the Uttar Pradesh and Mumbai police from Nanpara area of Bahraich. Shiv Kumar, the police said, is one of the three shooters and also the person who was in touch with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. All instructions from the gang were routed through him.
Police sources said Shiv Kumar admitted during interrogation that he is linked to the Lawrence BIshnoi gang. The murder, he allegedly said, was carried out on the instructions of Anmol Bishnoi, the brother of Lawrence Bishnoi, who is believed to be living in Canada.
Anmol Bishnoi's name has cropped up in the murder of Punjabi singer-politician Sidhu Moosewala in 2022, and the firing outside actor Salman Khan's residence in Mumbai in April. He is on the most-wanted list of the National Investigation Agency and a Rs 10 lakh reward has been announced for his arrest.
During his interrogation, Shiv Kumar apparently said they were in Mumbai for days conducting recce for Baba Siddique and on the night of October 12, "When we got the right time, we killed Baba Siddiqui".
It being a day of festival, the road was crowded and two of the attackers got caught but Shiv Kumar managed to escape. "I threw out the phone on the way and went from Mumbai to Pune. From Pune, I reached Bahraich via Jhansi and Lucknow," he was quoted as saying by sources.
"When I asked for a phone from a passenger in the train and talked to Anurag Kashyap, he said Avindra, Gyan Prakash and Akash have made arrangements for me to hide in Nepal. That is why I came to Bahraich and was trying to escape to Nepal along with my companions," sources quoted him as saying.
After the murder of Baba Siddiqui, Shiv Kumar had to go to Omkareshwar in Madhya Pradesh, to meet some henchmen of gang. The Mumbai police had tracked him to Omkareshwar but failed to catch him..
Baba Siddique was shot down apparently because of his close relationship with Bollywood actor Salman Khan. Bishnoi's associates have hinted that the grouse against Salman Khan is about the blackbucks he killed 20 years ago. Blackbucks are sacred to the Bishnoi community.
Investigators said Baba Siddique's son, Mumbai MLA Zeeshan Siddique, is also a target for the same reason. His photo has been found on a cell phone seized from one of the three men who shot his father.
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