Baba Siddique murder case: Accused says he was coerced into giving a confessional statement

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On Monday, the 26 people arrested in the high-profile Baba Siddiqui murder case were produced before the special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) Court in Mumbai. During the hearing, one of the accused, Nitin Gautam Sapre, made a startling allegation against the police.

Speaking via video-conferencing, Sapre claimed that he was taken to the Borivali Police Station from judicial custody and was coerced into giving a confessional statement. He alleged that the police threatened to implicate his family if he refused to make a confession. "I was pressured to confess, and the police threatened that my family would be arrested if I didn't cooperate," Sapre told the court.

He has stated his intention to retract from his confession and plans to move an application before the court from jail. Sapre's legal representatives, Advocates Ajinkya Madhukar Mirgal and Omkar Inamdar, confirmed that they would file an application for retraction of his statement.

"My client was threatened to confess before the magistrate that he was in regular contact with Anmol Bishnoi and had provided shelter to two accused in the case. He was told that if he did not comply, his entire family would be dragged into the case. He was also beaten inside the lockup," Advocate Mirgal alleged.

Sapre, arrested by the Mumbai Crime Branch, was allegedly approached by wanted accused Shubham Lonkar to carry out the assassination of Baba Siddiqui. Along with his gang member Ram Kanoujiya, Sapre is accused of conducting a recce for the murder. However, they demanded Rs 50 lakh each for the job after learning about Siddiqui's political stature.

When Lonkar failed to meet their financial demands, he reportedly hired a gang from Uttar Pradesh to carry out the assassination.