Mumbai Police's big update on Baba Siddique murder: 5 arrested accused had sought ₹50 lakh, but…
Baba Siddique shot dead: The Mumbai Police said the five recently arrested suspects had backed out due to disagreements over the payment.
Baba Siddique shot dead: The Mumbai Police, investigating the murder of Baba Siddique, have revealed that the five recently arrested suspects had initially demanded ₹50 lakh for the assassination but later backed out due to disagreements over the payment and the influence of the Nationalist Congress Party leader.
However, they still provided logistical and other support to those involved in carrying out the killing, news agency PTI reported citing unnamed officials.
On Friday, the crime branch arrested these five persons for allegedly supplying firearms and logistical assistance to the shooters, bringing the total number of arrests in the case to nine.
Three key suspects remain at large. The arrested individuals were identified as Nitin Gautam Sapre (32), Sambhaji Kisan Pardhi (44), Pradeep Dattu Thombre (37), Chetan Dilip Pardhi (27), and Ram Fulchand Kanoujia (43). Sapre is from Dombivli, while Pardhi, Thombre, and Pardhi are from Ambernath in Thane district, and Kanoujia is a resident of Panvel in Raigad, according to police.
"During their interrogation, the police found that the module led by Sapre had demanded ₹50 lakh from the mediator to kill NCP leader Baba Siddique. But that did not work out. So, due to the disagreement over contract, they decided to back out," PTI quoted an official as saying on Saturday.
Also, Nitin Gautam Sapre was aware that since Baba Siddique was a high-profile politician, killing him would create a huge problem for his module. Hence, they decided not to go ahead, the official added.
"But the accused persons decided to give logistical support to the new shooters and provide other help," he added.
Investigators have found that the module led by Nitin Gautam Sapre was in contact with conspirator Shubham Lonkar and mastermind Mohammed Zeeshan Akhtar up until the shooting, another official said.
The police are now examining whether Shubham and Akhtar were involved in bringing the plot to kill the NCP leader to Sapre's group through the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, the official added.
Earlier, police had arrested four individuals, including alleged shooters Gurmail Baljit Singh (23) from Haryana and Dharmaraj Rajesh Kashyap (19) from Uttar Pradesh, as well as Harishkumar Balakram Nisad (23), and "co-conspirator" Shubham Lonkar's brother, Pravin Lonkar, from Pune. Baba Siddique (66), a former Maharashtra minister, was shot dead on the night of October 12 outside the office of his MLA son, Zeeshan Siddique, in Mumbai's Bandra area. The primary shooter, Shivkumar Gautam, along with Shubham Lonkar and Mohammed Zeeshan Akhtar, remains at large. The police have issued a look-out circular (LOC) for the three fugitives.
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