Baba Siddique Murder: Accused Learnt Shooting From YouTube, Used Snapchat & Instagram To Communicate

The two accused initially arrested in the Baba Siddique case watched YouTube videos to learn shooting and did “dry practice” at a Kurla house rented in the name of the third accused shooter, who is on the run. The investigation into the murder of the NCP leader has also revealed that all the accused used social media apps like Snapchat and Instagram to communicate, the Mumbai Police said.

According to the Mumbai Crime Branch, the two arrested shooters — Gurmail Singh and Dharamraj Kashyap — learned to shoot by watching videos on YouTube and would practice shooting without a magazine in Mumbai. They were given Siddique’s banner photo to practise target shooting without bullets.

On Tuesday, a 7.62 mm pistol was recovered from a black bag found near the crime scene. The crime branch has arrested four accused so far, while three are still on the run, in the murder of former NCP leader Baba Siddique. He was shot at on the night of October 12 near his son and MLA Zeeshan Siddique’s office in Mumbai’s Bandra, and later succumber to his injuries at Lilavati hospital.

Arrested earlier in the day, the fourth accused — identified as 23-year-old Harishkumar Balakram Nisad — provided money and weapons for the crime by functioning as the middleman. Pravin Lonkar, another accused in custody, and his brother Shubham Lonkar, one of the accused on the run, gave Rs 2 lakh to Gurmail and Dharamraj, and this money was delivered by Harishkumar, police said.

The Mumbai Police said Harishkumar, who has lived in Pune for the past nine years, also gave two mobile phones to the accused shooters. The investigation also shows that the accused used social media to communicate — Snapchat to pass on messages and Instagram to make calls, police said.

They said Shubham Lonkar, the brother of one of the accused in custody, has knowledge of messaging apps and had asked all the members involved in the Siddique murder conspiracy to speak through Instagram and chat through Snapchat to avoid surveillance.

Conspiracy to kill Siddique started 3 months ago, murder planned in Pune

The investigation has further revealed that the plan to kill Baba Siddique began three months ago when the accused visited his house several times without weapons. Police said the accused also undertook a reconnaissance of the politician’s house 25 days before the incident.

In this regard, officials said the crime branch has seized an Apache motorbike allegedly used to conduct a recce of Siddique’s residence ‘Maqba Heights’ and his office in Kher Nagar.

According to the information received from the crime branch, the entire murder plan was drawn up in Pune. The accused then moved to Mumbai and were here for one-and-a-half months before the crime, an official said.

So far, the statements of more than 15 people, including many eyewitnesses present at the time of the incident, have been recorded.

What do we know about the other accused?

The Mumbai crime branch has formed various teams to nab Shivkumar Gautam, the third shooter on the run, and accused Mohammed Zeeshan Akhtar among others wanted in the case. Pravin’s brother Shubham could be another key accused, as he is suspected to have links with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.

Officials said Gautam was hired for shooting Siddique as he had past “experience of celebratory firing” in marriage processions in Uttar Pradesh. He hails from Gandara village in Bahraich district, where local residents and police said he had no criminal history.

They said he had gone to work at a scrap shop in Pune. But, he had posted some online content in recent months, flaunting his “gangster” status, they added.

Police said Pravin is accused of “enlisting” two of the three alleged shooters who opened fire at Siddique. His brother Shubham is allegedly associated with jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and is also part of the conspiracy, they said.

A social media post of “Shubu Lonkar”, a purported member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, owning up to the murder of Siddique is being probe, police said. It is suspected that Shubham had posted it. They have also written to the Facebook and Instagram authorities, seeking more details about the post.

Shubham was under police watch till the last week of September, but after that he vanished. He was earlier arrested in January in an Arms Act case registered at Akot police station in Maharashtra’s Akola district, but later got bail. Police had recovered more than 10 firearms in that case.

He was also picked up in June for questioning after the firing incident outside Salman Khan’s residence in April as the Lawrence Bishnoi gang’s involvement was suspected. But, he was let off as no evidence was found. Still, he was kept under surveillance, but on September 24 he became untraceable.

(With PTI inputs)