Mumbai Police arrests another suspect from Ludhiana, 15 detained so far

Mumbai, Oct 25 (PTI) Mumbai Police on Friday arrested a person in the murder case of NCP leader Baba Siddique from Ludhiana in Punjab.

Sujit Sushil Singh (32), a resident of Mumbai’s Ghatkopar and the 15th person held in the high-profile case, was linked to absconding accused Zeeshan Akhtar, one of the alleged masterminds of the murder, an official said. crime branch.

Elsewhere, investigators seized a pistol from the rented house of one of the arrested suspects in the Panvel area near Mumbai.

In the hierarchy of the conspirators, Sujit was above Nitin Sapre and Ram Kanoujia (both arrested), the official said, adding that Sujit and Akhtar took instructions from above and passed them on to Sapre and Kanoujia.

Sujit, a resident of Chheda Nagar in Ghatkopar, fled Mumbai a month before the crime that took place on October 12 and was staying with his relatives in Ludhiana, the official said.

Crime branch officials also traced his financial transactions with Kanoujia and Sapre, the official said. The money was given to the alleged gunmen and others involved in the crime, he added.

The masterminds used several people to provide money to the members of various ‘modules’ of gunmen hired for the assassination of the NCP leader, the official said.

Former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique (66) was shot dead by three gunmen near his MLA son Zeeshan Siddique’s office in Mumbai’s Bandra area on October 12.

Meanwhile, a pistol and three bullets were recovered from Ram Kanoujia’s rented house in Palaspe area of ​​Panvel town in neighboring Raigad district, the crime branch official said.

Kanoujia (43), arrested last week, was part of the group that allegedly provided the gunmen with firearms and logistical support.

A court here on Friday extended the remand of nine suspects until October 26.

While the police requested an extension of the remand by three days, the court extended it by one day.

The nine accused presented before the court were Gurnail Baljit Singh (23), Dharmaraj Kashyap (21), Harish Kumar Nisad (26), Pravin Lonkar (30), Nitin Gautam Sapre (32), Sambhaji Kisan Pardhi (44), Pradeep Dattu Thombre (37), Chetan Dilip Pardhi and Ram Fulchand Kanoujia (43).

According to police, Haryana resident Gurnail Singh and Uttar Pradesh resident Kashyap along with wanted accused Shivkumar Gautam shot Siddique.

Shubham Lonkar and Mohammed Zeeshan Akhtar are also wanted in the case. Shubham, who has links with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, is said to have hatched the murder conspiracy with the other wanted suspect.

(This report was published as part of the Syndicate’s auto-generated wire feed. Other than the headline, the copy has not been edited by ABP Live.)