Baba Siddique murder: Mumbai Police on Tuesday disclosed key details about the conspiracy to kill Baba Siddique, stating that the plan had been in motion for three months. The accused had visited Siddique's residence multiple times during this period, but without carrying any weapons, as part of their preparation.
Baba Siddique was shot dead in the Bandra area on Saturday night, causing a massive political storm in the state of Maharashtra which will go to Assembly polls next month.
When Baba Siddique was walking towards his car, the attackers allegedly used a tear gas-like substance. Following this, absconding accused Shivkumar Gautam fired six rounds from a 9 mm pistol and fled. According to sources, the other two accused did not fire but were carrying pistols and 28 live cartridges.
Accused learned shooting from YouTube
As per the Mumbai Police, the accused shooters Gurmail Singh and Dharamraj Kashyap learned to shoot by watching videos on YouTube and the same accused used to practice shooting (without a magazine) in Mumbai.
Mumbai Crime Branch has arrested four accused so far and three accused are still absconding, search for whom is on. The police said that they have found a 7.62 MM gun in the black bag found today in this case.
The police have said that the fourth accused Harish, arrested in the Baba Siddique murder case, worked as a middleman. Arrested accused Praveen and Shubham Lonkar (absconding accused) gave Rs 2 lakh to arrested shooters Gurmail Singh and Dharamraj Kashyap and this money was delivered through the fourth accused Harish.
Along with the money, two mobile phones were also provided to the shooters, Harish has been living in Pune for the last 9 years. The investigation also revealed that the accused used the Snapchat app for chatting and Instagram for making calls.
How killers identify NCP leader?
The police said that the conspiracy to kill Baba Siddique had started three months ago. The accused had gone to Siddique's house several times without weapons. "According to the information received from Mumbai Crime Branch, the entire planning of Baba Siddique's murder was done in Pune. Mumbai Crime Branch has so far recorded the statements of more than 15 people, including many eyewitnesses who were present at the time of the incident," the police said.
To identify the NCP leader, the accused was given Siddique's photo and banner photo and was told that this was the target. The house and office were also recced 25 days before the incident, said the police.
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