Baba Siddique murder: Mumbai police crime branch arrests scrap dealer

Baba Siddique murder: With the arrest, the total number of accused in custody has reached 10.

Mumbai police's crime branch on Sunday arrested a scrap dealer in Navi Mumbai in the Baba Siddique murder case.

Baba Siddique with actors Salman Khan and Shah Rukh Khan during an Iftar party.(PTI file photo)

The man, a native of Rajasthan's Udaipur, had allegedly provided a weapon to the men who shot dead the NCP leader on October 12. With the arrest, the total number of accused in custody has reached 10.

The accused has been identified as Bhagwat Singh Om Singh (32), who lives and works in Navi Mumbai.

Singh was remanded to police custody till October 26 by a local court.

Baba Siddique was murdered by three attackers outside his son Zeeshan Siddique's office. The police have arrested two shooters -- Gurmail Baljit Singh (23) and Dharmaraj Rajesh Kashyap (19).

The main shooter, Shivkumar Gautam, and two other persons involved in the murder conspiracy are absconding.

The Lawrence Bishnoi gang has taken responsibility for the sensational murder.

The police last week arrested five people for providing logistical support to the killers.

They were identified as Nitin Gautam Sapre (32), Sambhaji Kisan Pardhi (44), Pradeep Dattu Thombre (37), Chetan Dilip Pardhi and Ram Fulchand Kanoujia (43).

"The interrogation by police revealed that the Sapre-led module had demanded ₹50 lakh from the mediator to kill Baba Siddique. But that did not work out. So, due to the disagreement over the contract, they decided to back out," an official said on Saturday.

Two of the five accused had conducted a recce of Siddique's office before the murder. Sapre and Kanoujia had also kept watch on Siddique's house and office twice, clicking pictures and making videos.

With inputs from PTI, ANI