Scrap dealer accused of financing shooters; cops find pistol
Harish Kumar being produced at Esplanade court on Tuesday. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi
The Mumbai Crime Branch has arrested a fourth accused in the Baba Siddique murder case, 23-year-old Harish Kumar Balakram Nishad, from his hometown in Bahraich, Uttar Pradesh. The crime branch claims he was part of the conspiracy and provided financial assistance to the shooters. He was produced in court and remanded to the custody of the Mumbai Crime Branch until October 21.
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According to the crime branch, Harish Kumar was a scrap dealer who had been living in Pune for the past nine years. The absconding accused, Shivkumar Gautam, along with Dharmaraj Kashyap, worked with him, and all three were from the same village in Uttar Pradesh. While in Pune, they came into contact with another accused, Pravin Lonkar, who runs a dairy shop next to Harish Kumar’s scrap shop. “This is where the conspiracy to kill Baba Siddique was hatched, sometime between June and July,” an officer revealed.
Officials found a black bag (circled in picture) containing a 7.62 mm bore pistol near the crime scene
Officials discovered that Pravin Lonkar’s elder brother, Shubham, one of the key absconding accused, provided '2 lakh to Pravin, who passed it to Shivkumar Gautam. Gautam then conspired with Kashyap and Gurmail Singh. The group moved into a rented apartment in Kurla on September 2 this year. They conducted multiple recces using a bike and local transport before finally shooting Siddique outside his son Zeeshan’s office.
Zeeshan, who was also believed to be on the shooters’ radar, narrowly escaped as he had left just minutes before the incident. Sources revealed that Harish Kumar assisted the shooters by providing two mobile phones and other logistical support. Officials also learned that all the accused were using Snapchat for communication as instructed by Pravin Lonkar, and would delete the chats after discussions.
Cops find weapon used in murder
The crime branch claims to have recovered the pistol used in Siddique’s killing. Officials found a black bag containing a 7.62 mm bore pistol just a few hundred metres from the shooting location. It is believed that after the shooting, Shivkumar Gautam discarded the bag before escaping. Questions have arisen about how more than 48 hours passed without the local police noticing the bag so close to the crime scene. Typically, in such cases, officials thoroughly scan the surrounding area with sniffer dogs to gather evidence.
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