Mumbai police had questioned Baba Siddique killer in Salman firing case: Report

Baba Siddique murder: Shubham Lonkar's brother was arrested by the Mumbai Crime Branch.

Published on: Oct 15, 2024, 15:29:12 IST

By HT News Desk

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Baba Siddique murder: Shubham Lonkar, one of the absconding accused in the Baba Siddique murder case, was questioned by the Mumbai police when the Lawrence Bishnoi gang fired outside the house of actor Salman Khan in April. However, he was let off because the police didn't have concrete evidence against him.

Zeeshan Siddique and Arshia Siddique, son and daughter of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Baba Siddique, during his funeral procession, in Bandra. (Nitin Lawate)

Shubham Lonkar had allegedly written a social post saying the gang was behind the murder of the NCP politician. The post warned people against helping Salman Khan and Dawood Ibrahim.

Shubham Lonkar's brother was arrested by the Mumbai Crime Branch. The two brothers had allegedly hatched the conspiracy to kill Baba Siddique.

Lonkar is a key member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.

He was picked up by the police for questioning in April, reported NDTV.

The channel said that after his name was taken by several people, he was questioned by the police. He was accused of providing shelter to those who fired outside Galaxy Apartments, Salman Khan's residence.

Also read: Baba Siddique murder: Fourth accused arrested in UP's Bahraich

However, he was allowed to go by the police as they had no evidence.

The police said he and Pravin Lonkur were the key conspirators in the case. They had hired shooters Dharamraj Kashyap and Shiv Kumar Gautam for the murder.

The police have arrested two out of the three shooters. Shiv Kumar Gautam is absconding.

Also read: Baba Siddique murder: How did killers identify NCP leader? They were paid…

On Tuesday, the Mumbai Crime Branch arrested the fourth accused.

The accused, identified as 23-year-old Harishkumar Balakram, was arrested in UP's Bahraich for allegedly supplying money and arranging logistics for the sensational murder.

"He was working as a scrap dealer in Pune. He was part of the conspiracy, he supplied money and other logistics. Further investigation is underway," it added.

The police said the fourth accused was fully aware of the crime.

Baba Siddique (66) was waylaid by three persons in Mumbai's Nirmal Nagar area, just outside his MLA son Zeeshan Siddique's office, and shot dead on Saturday night. He was rushed to the Lilavati Hospital where he was declared dead. He was laid to rest on Sunday.

With inputs from agencies

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