Baba Siddique murder case: Two more people held from Pune, 18 arrested so far

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The Mumbai Crime Branch has arrested two more suspects in the Baba Siddiqui murder case, raising the total number of arrests to 18.

The two suspects, both residents of Pune, were arrested in Pune and were reportedly in contact with accused Praveen Lonkar, who allegedly supplied them with around 50 bullets. The suspects were brought to Mumbai on Thursday and are scheduled to be presented in court today.

The Mumbai Crime Branch said that two suspects arrested in the matter were identified as Aditya Raju Gulankar, 22 and Rafik Niyaz Shaikh, 22, both are residents of Karve Nagar in Pune.

A senior official said that the investigation revealed that both accused were in contact with previously arrested individuals Pravin Lonkar and Rupesh Mohol.

He said that Pravin Lonkar and Rupesh Mohol handed over a 9mm pistol and rounds to them, intended to be used in the crime. During the earlier investigation, the 9mm pistol was recovered. Efforts are ongoing to trace and seize the remaining ammunition.

Earlier, a 23-year-old man, who was allegedly part of the conspiracy to kill NCP leader Baba Siddique, was on Wednesday arrested from Pune, police said, making him the 16th accused to be held in connection with the high-profile murder.

Apune, the 16th person to be arrested in the case, was part of the conspiracy to kill the former Maharashtra minister in Mumbai last month.

He was produced before a local court which sent him to police remand till November 13.

A team of the Mumbai crime branch, probing the case, detained Apune after questioning some of the arrested accused and revealed he was involved in the conspiracy to attack Siddique.

The 23-year-old had a firearm and bullets with him, which he gave to one of the wanted accused. A search was on for the weapon which was in his possession.

Siddique (66) was shot dead by three gunmen in Mumbai's Bandra area on October 12.