Anmol Bishnoi ordered Siddique’s murder to instill fear among bizmen: charge-sheet

The charge-sheet was filed in a special court against 26 arrested accused and three absconding accused

MUMBAI: The Mumbai police crime branch on Monday filed a 4,590-page charge-sheet in connection with the murder of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Ziauddin Abdul Rahim Siddique aka Baba Siddique in October 2024, stating that gangster Anmol Bishnoi carried out the killing to create an atmosphere of fear through his organised crime syndicate and “establish its supremacy” in Mumbai.

Anmol Bishnoi ordered Siddique’s murder to instill fear among bizmen: charge-sheet

The charge-sheet was filed in a special court against 26 arrested accused and three absconding accused including Anmol Bishnoi, the brother of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi; Mohammed Yasin Akhtar aka Mohammed Jamil aka Kehi aka Jessi; and Pune resident Shubham Rameshwar Lonkar. The three absconding accused have been termed as key conspirators in the case.

Prior to Siddique’s murder, Anmol Bishnoi had instructed one of the accused in the case to prepare a list of prominent builders/ developers in Mumbai as the gang was planning to instill fear among businessmen so they could extort money easily, said a crime branch officer.

“Actor Salman Khan had been on the radar of the gang for a long time, but after their plans to breach his security failed, the shooters were instructed to fire at least 50 bullets to spread terror in the city,” said the officer.

On April 14 last year, bullets were fired at Salman Khan’s house in Galaxy Apartment in Bandra, following which Anmol Bishnoi claimed responsibility for the attack. Baba Siddique’s murder was planned a month after the firing at Khan’s house, said the crime branch officer.

“Though the NCP leader’s son and former MLA Zeeshan (Siddique) was on the target list too, they focused on the former minister mainly because of his proximity with Salman Khan and alleged links with the Dawood Ibrahim gang,” said the officer.

A total of 180 witnesses have been cited in the charge-sheet; statements of 74 witnesses were recorded by the police whereas statements of 14 others were recorded by metropolitan magistrates, the officer added.

According to the police, Baba Siddique was shot dead outside his son Zeeshan Siddique’s office in Khernagar, a crowded marketplace in Bandra East, on October 12, 2024. Three young men armed with sophisticated pistols trailed the 66-year-old former minister as he left his son’s office around 9.15pm along with a police guard and walked towards his car parked around 25-30 meters away.

One of the three assailants, Shivkumar Gautam, allegedly fired six rounds, three of which hit Siddique’s upper body. He then proceeded along a busy road, changed his t-shirt behind a vehicle parked on the side, dumped the gun used in commission of the crime in a backpack, and returned to the crime scene. He also went to Lilawati Hospital, where the NCP leader succumbed to his injuries, to confirm if he had died while his two accomplices – Dharmaraj Kashyap and Gurmail Singh – fled towards Kherwadi junction, where they were apprehended by policemen on patrolling duty. The duo’s arrest led to arrests of 24 other accused in the case, including members of two gangs which carried out a reconnaissance of Siddique’s residence and office.

The police have seized five firearms, six magazines and 84 rounds apart from 35 mobile handsets from the arrested accused.