Mumbai, 12 November 2024: Police sources indicate that Shiv Kumar Gautam, the prime suspect in the murder of Maharashtra politician Baba Siddique, confessed to receiving orders to kill either the 66-year-old Siddique or his son, MLA Zeeshan Siddique. Gautam, 20, was apprehended on Sunday with four accomplices while attempting to flee to Nepal from Bahraich in Uttar Pradesh.
Gautam is one of three shooters involved in the assassination. The other two, Gurnail Singh from Haryana and Dhramraj Kashyap from Uttar Pradesh, were arrested shortly after the incident outside Zeeshan Siddique’s office in Mumbai on October 12. However, Gautam managed to escape at that time.
During questioning, Gautam revealed that Anmol Bishnoi, the brother of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, had instructed him to shoot the first person he encountered, whether it was Baba Siddique or his son.
Police sources stated that Anmol, believed to be in Canada and on the National Investigation Agency’s most-wanted list, gave a motivational speech to Gautam before the murder, describing the act as a deed for “God and society.”
A photograph of Zeeshan Siddique, 32, was allegedly found on a cellphone confiscated from one of the shooters, indicating a possible premeditated intent to target him as well.
Following the murder, Gautam changed his shirt immediately to blend into the crowd, evading identification, according to Mumbai police crime branch sources. He then took a train from Thane to Pune, where he disposed of his mobile phone to avoid tracking.
Gautam stayed in Pune for about a week before traveling by train to Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh, where he remained for five days before moving to Lucknow.
In the state capital, he purchased a new phone and reestablished contact with his accomplices.
After spending 11 days in Lucknow, Gautam returned to his hometown Bahraich, where his aides secured a hideout for him in a nearby village.
Gautam disclosed to investigators that he initially planned to escape to Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain and later visit Vaishno Devi in Jammu before leaving the country altogether.
The police launched a widespread search, monitoring around 45 individuals connected to Gautam, including family members and close associates, to trace his movements following Siddique’s murder.
They narrowed their focus to four individuals who had maintained consistent contact with Gautam. Acting on this information, authorities set up a trap and apprehended him in the Nanpara area of Bahraich during a joint operation by the police forces of Uttar Pradesh and Mumbai.
Alongside Gautam, four other suspects—Anurag Kashyap, Gyan Prakash Tripathi, Akash Srivastava, and Akhileshendra Pratap Singh—were arrested for harboring him and aiding in his attempted escape to Nepal.
The investigation has so far resulted in 20 arrests related to the case.
According to police sources, Baba Siddique’s murder is believed to be linked to his close ties with actor Salman Khan. Lawrence Bishnoi’s gang associates have suggested that their longstanding animosity toward Khan stems from his involvement in the killing of blackbucks two decades ago, animals considered sacred by the Bishnoi community.
