Mumbai: In the Baba Siddique shooting case, Pravin Lonkar, the 28-year-old brother of Shubham Lonkar, has been arrested in Pune. He is one of the conspirators who, along with Shubham Lonkar, recruited Dharmaraj Kashyap and Shivkumar Gautam for the plot. Further investigation is underway and searching for wanted accused Mohammed Zeeshan Akhtar, said police officials.
According to police information, the accused had conducted several recce on Baba Siddique and his son Zeeshan Siddique's office and the house in Pali Hill. Wanted accused Shivkumar Gautam and the arrested Dharmaraj Kashyap were both working with a scrap dealer in Pune. Both are originally from Bahraich in Uttar Pradesh. They came into contact with another person who instructed them to go to Mumbai and contracted them for the murder of Baba Siddique.
Subsequently, Shivkumar and Kashyap moved into a rented house in Kurla in September. A three-month rental agreement was made in another person's name, with the monthly rent being around ₹5,000-6,000.Shivkumar, Gurmail, Zeeshan, and Kashyap received ₹2 lakhs in installments, as revealed in the police investigation.
A post claiming responsibility of the firing on Baba Siddique was made from a Facebook account named "Shubbu Lonkar Maharashtra." Since the account is under the name Shubham Lonkar on police's radar. Shubham was arrested in January 2024 for illegally possessing a weapon. Shubham's brother has also been arrested, Said police Official.
Shivkumar & Kashyap Left Job & Stayed At Rented House In Kurla
Last month, in the Baill Bazaar area of Kurla West, Shivkumar and Kashyap left their work at the scrap shop to stay there. Following that, Gurmail Baljit Singh started living with them. Shivkumar had brought weapons. Meanwhile, the accused practiced dry firing in the rented room. Gurmail, Shivkumar, and Kashyap traveled from Kurla to Bandra Kher Nagar by auto-rickshaw. At around 9 PM, Baba Siddique went to Zeeshan Siddique's office in Kher Nagar, stayed for about 20 minutes, and then left. As Baba Siddique was heading towards his parked car, Shivkumar fired at him and fled. Gurmail and Kashyap, who were with him, were caught by the police. Gurmail is originally from Haryana.
Gurmail and Zeeshan Akhtar met in Kaithal Jail, Haryana. Both Zeeshan and Gurmail are from Haryana, while Shivkumar and Kashyap are from Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh. Police sources have investigating on that there is likely a fifth person who brought all four together.Police said that the shooters were given photos of Baba siddhiqui 's photos and video for identification purpose. The conspiracy was hatched before September, said Police.
