Mumbai Shootout: Turkish Pistol Used To Kill NCP Baba Siddique; Investigation Reveals Method And Planning

In a major revelation, NCP leader Baba Siddique was shot at with a Turkish-made 7.62 mm pistol, claims officials of Mumbai Police Crime Branch. Three days since the murder, the Mumbai Crime Branch officials have recovered and seized the Turkish pistol along with 30 bullets, kept in a black bag, barely 300 meters away from the crime scene, presumably dumbed by the shooters after the crime. “This could be the weapon used by Gautam to kill Baba Siddique”, claimed one officer

In the initial investigation, the Mumbai police had recovered two pistols from the arrested accused, Dharmaraj Kashyap and Gurmel Singh. But those pistols had all bullets loaded but not fired. The main shooter, Shivkumar Gautam is still absconding. Gautam had fired six rounds- three hit Siddique on the chest, two his vehicle and one a passerby. His pistol was missing. The bag seized by the crime branch contained a pistol, an Aadhaar card, and a shirt. The extra shirt could be Gautam’s change but he couldn’t manage time after committing the crime, claim officials.

Investigation Details -

According to the investigation so far the shooters had done the recce of the place outside the office of Zeeshan Siddique, son of Baba Siddique. They had also scanned the places around Baba Siddique’s home and office but had found them unsuitable for the attack. Upon reaching to the spot, they had waited there for 45 minutes before laying the ambush. Police claim while the shooters had planned to commit the crime while riding on a bike but while on their way to the spot, their bike met with an accident and thus they had dumped it and later took an autorickshaw to reach there. Mumbai Crime Branch has seized the bike. From the black bag, police had also recovered the receipt of the second hand purchase of the seized bike. According to police, arrested accused Praveen Lonkar had transferred Rs 60,000 into the account of Harishkumar Nisar, fourth accused arrested from Uttar Pradesh, who had bought the second hand apache bike for Rs 32,000.


Shooters Changed Clothes After the Crime -

The investigation further revealed that after the murder, two shooters, Dharmaraj Kashyap and Gurmail Singh, changed their shirts as part of a premeditated plan to evade identification. Each shooter carried an extra shirt to the crime scene, intending to change soon after the killing. However, police vigilance led to the capture of Kashyap and Singh, while Gautam managed to escape. Police had previously seized an Australian-made Glock pistol from Gurmail, a country made postal from Dharmaraj Kashyap along with three more weapons and 58 bullets.


Meanwhile lookout notices have been issued for absconding suspects Shivkumar Gautam, Zeeshan Akhtar, and Shubham Lonkar. According to police, Lawrence gang had promised the shooters large sums of money and facilitate their relocation to abroad after the assassination. Dharmraj Kashyap and Gurmel Singh have confessed to these promises during interrogation, claim officers.