Establishing a strong connection between the murder of Baba Siddique and Lawrence Bishnoi, the Mumbai Police said the gangster's cousin Anmol Bishnoi spoke to the shooters of the Nationalist Congress Party leader just hours before the assassination, reported The Times of India. The report said Anmol Bishnoi communicated with Baba Siddique's shooters via a messaging app, sharing photos of the politician and his son.
While most of the communication was removed from the app, the Mumbai crime branch stumbled upon some of the conversation which was not deleted. The cops said the shooters and Anmol Bishnoi communicated through messaging app Snapchat, where the gangster shared photos of Baba Siddique and his son MLA Zeeshan Siddique.
Police suspect that Snapchat was used for conversation as the messages and photos shared via the app disappear after 24 hours.
The police said, “We have identified two layers—the shooters themselves and the weapon suppliers. Now, we are getting closer to the third layer, which could involve the conspirators and those who issued the killing contract.”
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The Mumbai Police also said the shooters given the contract for killing Baba Siddique had done gun practice in forest for at least five sessions before carrying out the attack. The practice sessions took place in September, where the shooters aimed at trees.
{{/usCountry}}The Mumbai Police also said the shooters given the contract for killing Baba Siddique had done gun practice in forest for at least five sessions before carrying out the attack. The practice sessions took place in September, where the shooters aimed at trees.
{{/usCountry}}"The shooters practiced shooting in a forest located on Karjat-Khopoli Road before targeting Baba Siddique. The accused practiced by shooting at a tree in the forest near Palasadari village near a waterfall on Karjat-Khopoli Road," Mumbai Police told ANI.
Baba Siddique was shot dead outside his son Zeeshan's office building in Bandra East on October 12. He was shot at by three armed assailants, and sustained three bullet injuries. Shortly after the incident, a social media post was uploaded by Shubham Lonkar, a suspected member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, claiming responsibility for the murder.
During interrogations, one of the accused in the case said that the gangster targeted Baba Siddique because he was “not a good man”, and had connections with don Dawood Ibrahim. Siddique was also targeted due to his close personal relationship with Bollywood actor Salman Khan, the accused said.
One of the arrested accused, Ram Kanojia, revealed during interrogation that he was the first person given the contract to kill the NCP leader and initially demanded one crore rupees, according to the Mumbai Crime Branch.