Baba Siddique murder: Five accused arrested in raids provided weapons, money to shooters

The police said that they carried out their biggest operation in the Baba Siddique murder case on Friday, October 18, leading to the arrest of five individuals connected to the killing of the former Maharashtra minister.

 

The five accused arrested in the Baba Siddique murder case on Friday have been identified as Nitin Gautam Sapre, 32; Sambhaji Kishan Parbi, 44; Ram Phoolchand Kannoujiya, 43; Pradeep Tomber, 37, and Chetan Dilip Pardhi, 33. While Parbi, Tomber and Pardhi are Ambernath residents, Sapre lives in Dombivali and Kannoujiya in Panvel.     

 

The five accused have been produced before the Esplanade Court in Mumbai's Fort following their arrest in the Baba Siddique murder case.

 

According to police sources, Sapre and Kannoujiya were the "leaders" of this group. In September, the five accused provided weapons to the shooters involved in Siddique's assassination. They also provided money and local support to two shooters: Dharamraj Kashyap and Shivkumar Gautam, the police revealed.

 

The duo stayed in Karjat with the five arrested accused for a few days.  The five men were also in contact with two other accused in the case: Zeeshan Akhtar and Shubham Lonkar, who are currently on the run.

 

Sapre is booked in three other serious cases and has charges of murder and attempted murder registered against him. He is also accused in a case under the Arms Act. Kannoujiya also has several charges against him, the police said.

 

Meanwhile, the Mumbai Crime Branch has issued a Lookout Circular (LOC) against Shubham Lonkar, as they suspect he may attempt to flee to Nepal. Officers have provided his photographs at the Nepal border, but there are currently no details on Lonkar’s whereabouts.

 

According to the officers, Lonkar was active until October 9, three days before Siddique's murder. His profile was used by the Lawrence Bishnoi gang to claim responsibility for Siddique’s murder. Lonkar’s brother Pravin has already been arrested by the crime branch for allegedly providing financial support to the shooters.

 

Siddique, 66, was shot dead on the night of October 12 outside his legislator son Zeeshan's office in Nirmal Nagar area, Bandra, prima facie by three shooters.

 

While Haryana resident Gurmail Baljit Singh, 23, and Uttar Pradesh native Dharmaraj Rajesh Kashyap, 19, have been arrested, Gautam is on the run. The police is also looking for Harishkumar Balakram Nisad, 23, who hails from Kashyap's village.

 

 

 

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