Baba Siddique’s murder: how police nabbed the prime suspect after a month-long chase

Five people were arrested from Bahraich in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday for the murder of NCP leader Baba Siddique. The arrests included shooter and main suspect Shiva Kumar and four associates. The group was trying to cross the border into Nepal when they were caught during a joint police operation.

Former Maharashtra MLA Baba Siddique was shot dead by three assailants outside his son and current MLA Zeeshan Siddique’s office building in Mumbai. He was rushed to a local hospital on October 12 with two gunshot wounds to the chest and died later that night. Two of the gunmen – identified as Gurnail Singh and Dhramraj Kashyap – had been arrested soon after the incident while Shiv Kumar remained on the run.

According to reports, the now arrested gunman had fled to Omkareshwar in Madhya Pradesh after the killing. The Mumbai Police kept on his trail but failed to catch him. Officials had then started tracing the movements of around 45 people close to Kumar. Finally, they targeted four people who seemed to be in constant contact with the fugitive and set a trap.

A team comprising six officers and 15 staff carried out the operation in collaboration with the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF). UP Police ADG Amitabh Yash told reporters in Lucknow that the suspect was trying to flee to Nepal at the time. The four others, namely Anurag Kashyap, Gyan Prakash Tripathi, Akash Srivastava and Akhilendra Pratap Singh, have been arrested for harboring Shivkumar and helping him escape.

(With input from agencies)