Mumbai:
The two suspects arrested in the killing of former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique have claimed they belong to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, said sources.
However, the Lawrence Bishnoi gang hasn’t taken responsibility for the murder yet. Gangster Lawrence Bishnoi is currently in Gujarat’s Sabarmati jail.
Baba Siddique, 66, a prominent politician from the Ajit Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party and a former three-MLA from Bandra East, was shot dead in Bandra last night.
The shooting that coincided with Dussehra festivities was carried out by three men, of which two were arrested while the third remains on the run. The two arrested accused are Karnail Singh, a resident of Haryana, and Dharamraj Kashyap from Uttar Pradesh.
During interrogation by the Mumbai Police Crime Branch, the two men also claimed they had been doing recce of that area for nearly a month, added the police sources.
The three accused arrived at the shooting spot in Bandra East, in an auto-rickshaw. They had been there for some time, waiting for Mr Siddique to arrive. Police suspect the involvement of another person who was providing information to the accused.
The cops are probing the case from two angles – one involving the Bishnoi gang and another related to a slum rehabilitation case.
The involvement of the Bishnoi gang is suspected due to Mr Siddique’s proximity to Bollywood star Salman Khan, who had received threats from Lawrence Bishnoi. Mr Siddique, however, did not report any threat from the Bishnoi gang in the past, according to the police.
But sources close to Mr Siddique claim that 15 days ago he received a death threat which is why he was placed under ‘Y’ category security.
Rohit Godara, a close aide of Lawrence Bishnoi, had earlier claimed that Salman Khan’s friend is our enemy.
The Central agency is in touch with the Mumbai Police and is working on verifying the claims made by the two accused. Gujarat police and Delhi police special cell are also investigating the case.
