Mumbai: In the Baba Siddique murder case, Mumbai crime branch sources have revealed that absconding shooter Shiv Kumar Gautam, Shubham Lonkar, and Zeeshan Akhtar may have fled to Nepal. Based on this information, two teams are conducting raids along the Indo-Nepal border and also in Haryana and Punjab.
Meanwhile, a fifth weapon has been seized from Pune; a pistol from the residence of accused Rupesh Mohol. The crime branch believes there is still another weapon and three live rounds unaccounted for, estimating that around six weapons were brought to Mumbai in connection with the crime. The police have also seized four mobile phones and two SIM cards.
It has also been revealed that one of the accused, Sujit Kumar Singh, met absconding mastermind Zeeshan Akhtar in Ludhiana. After fleeing from Mumbai on September 12, Sujit Singh met Zeeshan on the orders of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi’s Canada-based brother Anmol.
In Ludhiana, Sujit handed over some funds to Zeeshan and put him in touch with another accused Nitin Sapre. While Sujit stayed in Ludhiana after the meeting, Zeeshan went to Kaithal, remaining in touch through the Jenga app. The messages on the app are still being investigated by the crime branch. The probe has also revealed that Sujit was in regular touch with another absconding accused, Shubham Lonkar.
As per the probe, from June 24 to sometime in July, Lonkar met accused Rupesh in Pune, with Zeeshan joining online. These meetings took place when Rupesh and two of his associates were tasked with Siddique’s murder. Following this meeting, Rupesh contacted the gang that provided weapons and agreed to undertake the contract from Sapre to kill Siddique; he even conducted a reconnaissance of Siddique’s home and office.
On Monday, five accused were presented in the Killa Court, where they were granted one-day police custody. Those presented in court included Amit Kumar, Sujit Singh, Rupesh Mohol, Karan Salve, and Shivam Kohad. They will be presented again in the court on Tuesday.
