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Baba Siddique murder: Mumbai Police invokes stringent MCOCA against 26 arrested accused
The NCP leader was shot dead by three assailants on October 12 outside his son MLA Zeeshan Siddique's office in Mumbai's Nirmal Nagar area.
In the latest development in NCP leader Baba Siddique's murder case, the Mumbai Police on Saturday invoked the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) against the accused persons, ANI reported.
On October 12, Siddique was shot dead by three assailants outside his son MLA Zeeshan Siddique's office in the Nirmal Nagar area in Mumbai.
The Lawrence Bishnoi gang claimed responsibility for the murder. Police have so far arrested 26 persons in this case, while three more are yet to be nabbed.
What is MCOCA?
The Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act, 1999, is an act “to make special provisions for prevention and control of, and for coping with, criminal activity by organized crime syndicate or gang, and for matters connected therewith or incidental thereto”.
The act, which applied to the entire state of Maharashtra, came into force on February 24, 2024.
The act states that if any person commits an offense of organized crime and;
- if such an act results in any person's death, then the accused shall be punishable with death or imprisonment for life and shall also be liable to a fine
- in any other case, the accused can be punished with imprisonment for a term not less than five years but which may extend to life imprisonment and shall also be liable to a fine
Mumbai Police probe
The investigation into the NCP leader's murder revealed that the prime suspect, Akashdeep Gill, used a labourer's mobile internet hotspot to communicate with the key conspirators, which also includes mastermind Anmol Bishnoi, police said.
Gill, who was arrested from Punjab, was found to be the logistics coordinator in Baba Siddique's murder plot, orchestrated by Anmol.
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"In a significant development in the Baba Siddique murder case, Akashdeep Gill, arrested from Fazilka, Punjab, disclosed during interrogation how he communicated with key conspirators using a labourer's mobile hotspot. This method was employed to evade police detection," Mumbai Crime Branch was quoted as saying by ANI.
They further said that Gill admitted to using labourer Balwinder's hotspot, allowing him to appear offline and avoid being tracked.
Officials noted that the Crime Branch is on the lookout for Gill's mobile phone, which might be a key piece of evidence in the case.
One of the accused and shooter in Siddique's murder case, Shiva Kumar, along with four other accused was sent to police custody by a local court on November 12.
ALSO READ | How police caught main accused in Baba Siddique's murder while he tried to flee to Nepal
Kumar and the other four accused were arrested by a joint team of Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) and the Mumbai Crime Branch from the Nanpara area of UP's Bahraich on November 10.
Salman Vohra, accused of funding the murder, was also arrested by the police.
As per information from a senior officer of the Mumbai Crime Branch, Baba Siddique had also been on the radar of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.
(with inputs from ANI)
