Mumbai, December 4
Baba Siddique murder case: Mumbai Police told a special court here that the name of Anmol Bishnoi, the younger brother of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, has emerged as the main conspirator in the murder of NCP leader Baba Siddique.
The police made the claim on Tuesday while seeking the remand of the eight accused in the case, citing stringent provisions of the Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act (MCOCA). Judge AM Patil of the special Makoka court has sent the eight accused, including the alleged main shooter Shivakumar Gautam, to police remand till December 7.
It may be mentioned that the former minister of Maharashtra Baba Siddique (66) was shot dead by three assailants outside the office building of his son Jeeshan Siddique on October 12.
Anmiol Bishnoi, who was recently detained in the US and sent to a jail there, has been named as a wanted accused in the case. During the remand hearing, the Mumbai Police told the court that during their investigation, the name of Anmol Bishnoi has emerged as the main conspirator in the case. They said he was providing financial support to other accused and an investigation is needed to ascertain the source and use of the funds. The police said that Anmol Bishnoi had contacted the co-accused through a communication app, the custody of the arrested accused is needed to gather information on this aspect.
The Crime Branch has so far arrested 26 people including the alleged main shooter Shivakumar Gautam in this case. All the accused were earlier sent to judicial custody by the Magistrate Court. On November 30, the police imposed strict IPC against all the 26 accused. After this, all the accused were presented in the special court on Tuesday.
Before the court proceedings began, the judge asked reporters present in the court to leave after the prosecution raised objections that the remand application contained sensitive information. Defense lawyers Rupesh Jaiswal, Ajinkya Mirgal and Dilip Shukla opposed the remand, saying the accused have already been in custody for more than 40 days. After hearing both the sides, the court remanded eight accused in police custody till December 7 while the rest of the accused were sent to 14-day judicial custody. Apart from Anmol Bishnoi, Shubham Lonkar is also a wanted accused in this case. PTI