Baba Siddique's main shooter waited outside hospital to 'confirm' death
In a major breakthrough, the Mumbai police arrested the main shooter of Baba Siddique on November 10 from Nanpara in Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich district. Shiv Kumar Gautam, a close aide of prime accused Shubham Lonkar, was nabbed in a joint operation by the Mumbai Crime Branch and the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force. The police have now learned that, after the murder, Gautam returned to the crime scene in Bandra East and later to Lilavati Hospital to confirm Siddique's death.
Suspect revisited crime scene, confirmed victim's death
He then fled, changing his shirt and discarding the murder weapon under an abandoned car near the scene. The police recovered this evidence two days after the incident. Once he confirmed Siddique's death at the hospital, Gautam took a train from Kurla railway station to Thane, then Pune, before heading to Uttar Pradesh. He smashed his phone during his escape and purchased a new one in Lucknow.
Gautam's escape route and altered plans revealed
According to the police, his first plan was to meet fellow shooters at Ujjain and visit Vaishnodevi temple in Jammu, but he changed course when his associates were arrested at the crime scene. The probe found that Gautam was promised ₹10 lakh and other monthly expenses by handlers of Lawrence Bishnoi's gang to execute the murder. The gang also planned to kill Aftab Poonawala, who was involved in a high-profile murder case in Delhi.
Multiple arrests made, key conspirators identified
Two shooters, Dharmaraj Kashyap and Gurmail Singh, were arrested on the day of the murder. The police have now arrested 23 people in connection with this case. Shubham and Zeeshan Akhtar are identified as key conspirators who provided logistics and weapons for the murder. Lonkar had allegedly been radicalized by Lawrence Bishnoi's gang while incarcerated and had plans to eliminate Poonawala outside Saket court in New Delhi.
