In the sensational Baba Siddique murder case, five more persons were arrested on Friday for allegedly providing firearms and logistical support to the shooters.
According to thepolice, total number of arrests in the case now stands at nine, while three key persons are on the run.
The Congress-turned-NCP leader was shot at on October 12 near his MLA son Zeeshan Siddique's office in Nirmal Nagar in Mumbai's Bandra area. He succumbed to bullet injuries at Lilavati Hospital.
Prima facie, the five arrested accused were in touch with conspirator Shubham Lonkar and mastermind Mohammed Zeeshan Akhtar, both absconding at present, said a report by news agency PTI citing an official.
Akhtar's links were earlier established with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang and he is allegedly one of the masterminds of the politician's murder, according to the police.
"Based on human intelligence and technical analysis, an operation was conducted by Crime Branch in various parts of the state, including Panvel and Karjat in neighbouring Raigad district, leading to the arrest of these five persons for conspiracy related to the crime and its execution," the official said.
"They were produced before court, which sent them in police custody till October 25. As per the interrogation of the accused, we have found that Sapre and and Kanoujia are key members of this module. The weapons used to murder Siddique were provided to the shooters by this module," the official added.
The official identified the five as Nitin Gautam Sapre (32), Sambhaji Kisan Pardhi (44), Pradeep Dattu Thombre (37), Chetan Dilip Pardhi and Ram Fulchand Kanoujia (43). Sapre is from Dombivali, while Pardhi, Thombre and Pardhi (27) are from Ambernath in Thane district. Kanoujia is a resident of Panvel in Raigad, said the report.
The firearms comprised foreign made Tisas and Glock as well as a country-made pistol, it added.
"We believe the firearms were brought from north India. The delivery was done in mid-September. This module also helped with finance and gave logistic support to the shooters. Shooters Shivkumar Gautam, who is on the run, and Dharmaraj Kashyap stayed with the members of this module in August," the official also said.
