The conspiracy to kill Baba Siddique was hatched within the second half of June. (File)
Mumbai:
The masterminds of the homicide of NCP chief Baba Siddique had promised to acquire a passport primarily based on faux paperwork for one of many shooters in order that he might escape overseas, police mentioned right here on Thursday.
In addition they paid the shooter, Gurnail Singh (23), Rs 50,000, a police official advised PTI.
Siddique, a former Maharashtra minister, was shot useless outdoors the workplace of his MLA son Zeeshan Siddique within the Bandra space right here on October 12.
Gurnail and one other alleged shooter Dharmaraj Kashyap have been arrested instantly after the assault, whereas their confederate Shivkumar Gautam managed to flee.
Gurnail Singh, a resident of Kaithal in Haryana, had a homicide case registered in opposition to him in 2019, the official mentioned.
He had concern of being convicted in that case and wished to flee the nation, as per the probe. The conspirators promised to assist him go away India by acquiring a passport primarily based on faux paperwork for him, the police official mentioned.
Shivkumar, Dharmaraj and Gurnail have been from the “second module” of the shooters who have been involved with `conspirator’ Shubham Lonkar and `mastermind’ Mohammed Zeeshan Akhtar, he mentioned.
Shivkumar and Dharmaraj have been allegedly paid Rs 1.5 to 2 lakh to execute the killing.
As per the Mumbai crime department which is investigating the case, a “module” primarily based in Thane, comprising Nitin Sapre and Ram Kanoujia, initially acquired the contract to kill Siddique.
They carried out a recce of Siddique’s home and workplace for a number of days, the official mentioned, including that Rupesh Mohol (21), Karan Salvi (19) and Shivam Kohad (20) have been additionally with them. Mohol, Salvi and Kohad have been arrested from Pune on Thursday.
Sapre and Kanoujia demanded Rs 50 lakh for executing the killing, however the conspirators felt the sum was too huge. The module led by Sapre then backed out, and a brand new set of shooters, together with Gurnail Singh, was engaged by the conspirators, the official mentioned.
Earlier than that, Kanoujia had visited Udaipur with Bhagwatsingh Omsingh (additionally arrested) on July 7 to get the pistols that have been finally used within the crime.
The conspiracy to kill Siddique was hatched within the second half of June. Because the weapons have been sourced from north India, Mumbai police suspect that those that ordered the hit on Siddique have been primarily based in that a part of the nation, the official mentioned.
Needed accused Zeeshan Akhtar, who’s from Jalandhar, was in Haryana in July and stayed on the residence of Amit Hisamsingh Kumar. Amit Kumar, now arrested, was an essential hyperlink between Akhtar and Gurnail Singh, the official mentioned.
Thus far, the police have arrested 14 individuals within the case.
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