Baba Siddique shot dead: Assassins lay in wait for almost 30 min outside Zeeshan’s office

Illustrations/Uday Mohite

1. The suspects, Gurmail Baljit Singh, 23; an Uttar Pradesh resident who claims he's a minor; and the absconding accused Shivkumar Gautam, caught a cab near their rented accommodation in Kurla to the scene of the crime near Kherwadi junction in Bandra East at 8.30 pm.

2. After keeping watch for almost half an hour, the accused spotted Baba Siddique outside the party office of his son, Zeeshan. A large religious procession was headed their way amid heavy police bandobast. To clear the escape route, an accused dropped a smoke bomb at the spot, anticipating chaos.

3. Gautam who managed to escape, fired six rounds from his pistol, of which two hit Siddique on the chest and exited his body, while another hit his car. A police bodyguard present at the time panicked and could not gauge the situation.

4. The sixth bullet fired by Gautam, accidentally hit a pedestrian, Raj Nirmal, 22 who was waiting to seek darshan of Goddess Durga. The trio then fled, looking for an escape route.

5. Following the commotion, a team of constables who were watching the procession from a police van, rushed out of the vehicle thinking that a firecracker had burst. The police team spotted Singh and the Uttar Pradesh resident running in their direction. Mistaking them as robbers, the constables, without realising that the duo were armed, chased them and managed to catch hold of Singh.

6. Meanwhile, the Uttar Pradesh resident managed to escape from the melee and rushed towards the Western Express Highway. A team of five policemen chased him on the highway. Realising that the cops would catch up with him, the youth took the service road, jumped over the five-foot compound wall of the Children's Society in Kherwadi and hid amid the lush greenery inside the compound. The cops cordoned off the premises, blocking his escape route, and arrested him.

7. Meanwhile, Gautam entered the crowd and brandished pistols, managed to escape. The police have been on his trail since Saturday night.