21 October,2024 08:48 AM IST | Mumbai | Apoorva Agashe
Mumbai police produced the four accused at the Esplanade court, in Fort, on Monday. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi
The police have said that the four arrested suspects in the Baba Siddique murder case have not been cooperating with the investigation and are providing misleading information to divert the inquiry.
Additionally, law enforcement stated that, as of now, they have been unable to establish a connection between the 10 accused individuals and Lawrence Bishnoi.
The accused, identified as Dharmaraj Kashyap, Pravin Lonkar, Harish Nishad, and Gurmail Singh, were presented in court and remanded to police custody until October 25.
The police said that the suspects' lack of cooperation is hampering the investigation. "The accused have been frequently changing their statements, making it difficult for us to apprehend the prime suspect," the public prosecutor said during the court hearing.
However, Pravin Lonkar's defence lawyer, Siddharth Aggarwal, refuted these claims, arguing that his client was being made a scapegoat. "Shubham Lonkar is one of the prime accused, and Pravin Lonkar is not involved in the crime. He has fully cooperated, and the weapons have been recovered, so judicial custody should be granted," Aggarwal told the court.
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Aggarwal added, "They charged Pravin under the Arms Supply Act, and on Sunday they arrested someone else, claiming he was the arms supplier. The investigating officer also mentioned they have not yet established a link between Lawrence Bishnoi and the arrested suspects, which supports the fact that my client has cooperated."
According to the police, however, Pravin Lonkar is a co-conspirator, and his brother, Shubham, was the one who orchestrated the conspiracy. The Lonkar brothers allegedly supplied arms and money to the other accused.