GG News Bureau
Mumbai, 14th Oct. A Mumbai court on Monday remanded Pravin Lonkar, the third person arrested in connection with the killing of NCP leader and former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique, to police custody till October 21. Lonkar, arrested from Pune on Sunday, is accused of enlisting two of the alleged shooters who targeted Siddique in Bandra on Saturday night.
Produced before Magistrate V R Patil, the police sought Lonkar’s custody to further investigate the conspiracy behind the murder. The prosecution claimed that Lonkar’s brother, Shubham, is associated with jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and that Shubham, along with other wanted accused, plotted the shooting and provided arms to the attackers.
The police intend to take Pravin Lonkar to Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Bihar as part of their ongoing probe. However, Lonkar’s advocate, Prashant Badkar, argued that his client was being falsely implicated due to the police’s inability to capture Shubham Lonkar. He maintained that Pravin, who runs a dairy shop, had no involvement in any conspiracy.
Meanwhile, two of the arrested shooters, Gurmail Baljit Singh (23) from Haryana and Dharmaraj Rajesh Kashyap (19) from Uttar Pradesh, remain in police custody till next Monday. A third suspect, Shivkumar Gautam, is still on the run. According to the police, Pravin Lonkar and his brother Shubham recruited Kashyap and Gautam for the attack.
The police have recovered two pistols and 28 live bullets from the detained shooters and are investigating a social media post allegedly linked to a member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, claiming responsibility for Siddique’s murder. They are also exploring various motives behind the killing, including contract killing, business or political rivalry, or disputes over a slum rehabilitation project. The murder occurred just before the Maharashtra assembly polls.
Baba Siddique, 66, was ambushed by three gunmen near Kher Nagar, outside his son Zeeshan Siddique’s office in Bandra. He was rushed to Lilavati Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Siddique was buried with state honors on Sunday night, with a large gathering of political leaders and supporters present under heavy security.
A former Congress leader, Siddique had served as the MLA from Bandra West in 1999, 2004, and 2009, before joining Ajit Pawar’s NCP earlier this year. He was known for his social work during the COVID-19 pandemic and his star-studded Iftar parties, attended by top Bollywood actors like Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan, and Sanjay Dutt.
