Baba Siddique murder: A scrap dealer from Navi Mumbai was arrested for allegedly providing a weapon to shooters involved in the killing of Baba Siddique, taking the number of persons in custody so far to 10.
The former Maharashtra minister was fatally shot on October 13. Prima facie, three people fired upon him near the office of his MLA son in Bandra.
The arrest was made by the Mumbai Police's crime branch.
The accused has been identified as Bhagwat Singh Om Singh (32).
He is currently staying in Navi Mumbai, but originally hails from Udaipur in Rajasthan.
He was produced before a court which remanded him to police custody till October 26, the official said.
Two shooters — Gurmail Baljit Singh (23) and Dharmaraj Rajesh Kashyap (19) — are in the custody of police.
However, Shivkumar Gautam, and two other persons involved in the conspiracy, are absconding.
Of the 10 accused arrested, five had demanded ₹50 lakh for the job, but backed out later due to disagreement over payment and also considering the slain politician's clout.
The five accused, residents of various areas of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, had prima facie provided logistical support to the shooters and were paid ₹5 lakh, reported PTI quoting a crime branch official.
They were identified 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.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, three policemen were suspended for alleged negligence in duty, taking cognisance of videos in which a sharpshooter of Lawrence Bishnoi gang interacts with reporters while in police custody and comments on NCP leader Baba Siddique's killing.
The police have issued a look-out circular (LOC) against the three accused — Shivkumar Gautam, Shubham Lonkar and Mohammed Zeeshan Akhtar.
