Mumbai: Three Weeks Post-Assassination, Main Suspects in Baba Siddique’s Murder Still at Large
Mumbai, 5th October 2024: Three weeks after the assassination of NCP leader and former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique outside his son’s Bandra East office, the Mumbai crime branch is still searching for the three main suspects—alleged shooter Shivkumar Gautam and accused conspirators Shubham Lonkar and Zeeshan Akhtar. While police apprehended two other shooters who accompanied Gautam, Gurmail Baljitsingh and Dharmaraj Kashyap, on the day of the incident, Gautam, who allegedly fired the fatal shots, remains at large.
According to a source, crime branch teams continue to search for Gautam near the India-Nepal border, suspecting he may have either crossed into Nepal or gone into hiding, cutting off contact to avoid detection. Investigations have suggested that Lonkar and Akhtar orchestrated the murder plot, meeting in Pune to finalize the plan. Subsequently, Akhtar connected with a third alleged co-conspirator, Sujit Singh, in Ludhiana. Thus far, the crime branch has arrested a total of 15 suspects, with 10 currently in judicial custody.
On Monday, five suspects—Amit Kumar, Rupesh Mohol, Shivam Kohad, Karan Salve, and Sujit Singh—were brought before the Killa court as their remand ended. The police requested an extension, citing the need to recover a weapon and additional cartridges and to examine the accused’s bank transactions to trace financial links behind Siddique’s murder. The court extended their police custody by one day for further investigation.
The other suspects in judicial custody include Gurmail Baljitsingh, Dharmaraj Kashyap, Pravin Lonkar, Harish Kumar Balakram Nishad, Nitin Gautam Sapre, Sambhaji Kisan Pardhi, Pradeep Dattu Thombre, Chetan Dilip Pardhi, Ram Fulchand Kanaujia, and Bhagwat Singh Omsingh.
Sujit Singh, the most recent arrest, was taken into custody in Ludhiana, Punjab. Originally from Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, Singh had resided in Ghatkopar’s Chheda Nagar for several years and allegedly coordinated with Akhtar as part of the conspiracy.
