Baba Siddique murder: Shooter, four others remanded in police custody till November 19

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The Esplanade Court in Mumbai has sent Shivkumar Gautam - one of the men who allegedly shot Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Baba Siddiqui - along with four others in police custody till November 19. Gautam and the other four accused - Anurag Kashyap, Gyan Prakash Tripathi, Akhilesh Srivastava and Akhilendra Pratap Singh - were arrested from Bahraich in Uttar Pradesh (UP) with the help of the state's Special Task Force (STF).

According to the crime branch, Gautam fired three rounds at Siddique, two of which struck in the chest of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader. The former Maharashtra Minister passed away moments after he was shot in Bandra, on October 12.

Mumbai Crime Branch Joint Commissioner Lakhmi Gautam said Gautam's arrest came as a major breakthrough for the probe team as he was on the run since October 12, following Baba Siddique's murder. "The accused was arrested in a joint operation with the UP STF and marks significant progress in our investigation," he said.

Sources reveal that a team of 26 officers from the Mumbai Crime Branch, led by Assistant Inspector Amol Mali, played a crucial role in tracking and capturing Gautam. Mali had been tailing Gautam since he initially went into hiding. The team reportedly reviewed hundreds of CCTV recordings, tracing Gautam's movement to Bahraich, where he was planning to flee to Nepal. Stationed in Bahraich for the past month, the team meticulously monitored Gautam's movements. "We received information indicating he was hiding in a forest near Bahraich. As we gathered more intelligence, additional teams were dispatched, leading to his arrest along with that of several associates who were aiding his escape to Nepal," an officer involved in the operation explained.

The total number of individuals apprehended in connection with the case is 23. The UP STF has confirmed that the shooting was planned on the instructions of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi.

The Mumbai Crime Branch's investigation into the Baba Siddique murder case has revealed that contract killers had multiple backup assailants ready in case Gautam, Dharmraj Kashyap, and Gurmail Singh - who shot the NCP leader - failed in their attempt. Officers discovered that some of these killers travelled to Maoist-affected areas in Jharkhand to receive training with AK-47s. The police suspect that one of the accused, Shubham Lonkar, may have collaborated with local Maoist groups to facilitate this training for the shooters.