Bishnoi gang wanted to convey Salman Khan a message: Probe

MUMBAI: The suspected shooters of NCP politician Baba Siddique, who was killed outside his son MLA Zeeshan’s office on Saturday, had made more than 10 failed attempts to kill him in and around Bandra in the past month, police said.

“They were told to kill Siddique near his son’s office in Kherwadi since it’s an open area,” said a senior police officer. “They did not get a chance to open fire on him on those occasions because of various reasons. At times, Siddique didn’t turn up, and when he did, they were forced to abandon the plan because he was surrounded by too many of his supporters.’’

Meanwhile, police on Tuesday arrested one more accused in the case, Harishkumar Nishad (24), from Kaisarganj in UP. He was remanded in police custody till Oct 21. Three others were earlier arrested: the two alleged shooters — Gurmail Singh (23) and Dharmaraj Kashyap (21) — and milk dairy owner Praveen Lonkar .

Milk dairy owner Praveen Lonkar is the brother of Shubham Lonkar, whose social media post connected Siddique’s killing to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang .

Nishad used to run a scrap shop in Pune city. Pune police officials told TOI that the owner from whom Nishad took the shop on rent last year said it has been shut for over two weeks and had no idea where he had gone. The shop is next to Praveen’s dairy. Nishad brought some youngsters from his home district to work at the shop.

Police have seized a motorcycle he purchased that was given to the alleged shooters for conducting reconnaissance. “Praveen gave Rs 60,000 to Nishad to buy a second-hand bike. Nishad rode this bike from Pune to Mumbai and handed it over to the shooters near their rented room in Kurla. The shooters used the bike for carrying out recce of Siddique. It was bought with Nishad’s documents,” said another senior officer. Shubham allegedly also gave Rs 4 lakh to Praveen, who later distributed it among the shooters and co-conspirators over a period of time. Police claimed to have found a bag containing a weapon that the alleged shooters left behind while fleeing after killing Siddique.

Meanwhile, the initial police investigation indicates that the Lawrence Bishnoi gang wanted to convey a message to actor Salman Khan that they are not to be ignored. The gang had fired at Salman Khan’s Bandra residence on April 14. Siddique was said to be close to Khan, who was a regular at the politician’s fabled iftars. Lawrence, currently in Sabarmati jail for various criminal activities, had previously threatened Khan, swearing revenge for the actor’s alleged involvement in the poaching of blackbucks, which are sacred to the Bishnoi community. Security has reportedly been tightened around Khan. Moreover, Lawrence wants to make an impact in the city considering that not many gangsters are active, an officer said.

Police said Singh and his handler and wanted accused, Zeeshan Akhtar (24), worked for the Vikram Brar group, which is associated with the Bishnoi gang. “Shubham had once gone to Punjab and met Zeeshan. Their modus operandi is to enlist young and poor people to carry out killings,” said the officer. Police are also planning to invoke the stringent MCOCA against the accused.

(With inputs from Gitesh Shelke in Pune)