Baba Siddique killing: Third suspect from Pune sent to police custody till Oct 21

Mumbai, Oct 14 (IANS) A Mumbai court on Monday sent Pravin Lonkar - the third suspect nabbed for the killing of ex-Minister and Nationalist Congress Party leader Baba Ziauddin Siddique - to police custody till October 21.

Lonkar, 28, was arrested by the Mumbai Police Crime Branch from Pune on Sunday and produced before the Esplanade Court on Monday.

He is the brother of Shubham Lonkar, and both siblings are suspected of being part of the larger conspiracy to eliminate Siddique.

According to the investigators, the Lonkar brothers had reportedly recruited the two hitmen, Gurnail Baljit Singh and an associate, suspected to be a minor, to kill Siddique.

On Sunday, the Esplanade Court remanded Singh to police custody till October 21, while the other minor had been sent for a medical examination to determine his exact age.

The police have formed 15 probe teams and are on the lookout for another suspect Shiv Kumar, plus their handler Mohammed Zishan Akhtar. Both are still on the run.

On the occasion of Dussehra Day celebrations, Siddique was fired upon multiple times near his son's office in Nirmal Nagar by the accused duo Singh and the minor, after which they decamped from the spot, but were caught soon afterwards.

Siddique, 66, who sustained at least three bullet injuries, including one in the chest, was rushed to the Lilavati Hospital where he was pronounced dead on admission, sparking a massive political furore.

The accused, during custodial questioning, claimed that they were hired to kill either Siddique or his Congress MLA son Zeeshan – who had received some threats in the past few days.

A day after murdering Siddique, dreaded criminal Lawrence Bishnoi had claimed responsibility for the fatal hit, unnerving Bollywood circles and pointing to a potential angle of mafia involvement which the police are probing separately.

In the midst of the Lok Sabha elections, on April 14 morning, hitmen from the Bishnoi gang had fired several rounds at Bollywood actor Salman Khan’s first-floor home in Galaxy Apartments, Bandra west, speaking a huge sensation.

In the past couple of years, both the mega-star and his celebrated screenplay writer father Salim Khan have been threatened on several occasions, and security has been beefed up for the family at their home and office.