Mumbai Police on Sunday arrested another accused in the killing of former Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Baba Siddique. The police arrested Bhagwat Singh Om Singh, a scrap dealer from Navi Mumbai, bringing the total number of arrests in the case to ten.
32-year-old Om Singh originally hails from Udaipur, Rajasthan. He is accused of supplying a weapon to the shooters involved in the high-profile assassination.
Singh was produced before a court and has been remanded to police custody until October 26. The police have detained nine other suspects across various locations, including five from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, all implicated in providing logistical support and firearms for the October 12 killing.
The five individuals arrested following the targeted raids by the Crime Branch in Panvel and Karjat were identified as Nitin Gautam Sapre (32), Sambhaji Kishan Parbi (44), Ram Phoolchand Kannaujia (43), Pradeep Tomber (37), and Chetan Dilip Pardhi (33).
Sapre and Kannaujia were reportedly the leaders within this group and allegedly played a crucial role in supplying firearms to the shooters. Further investigations revealed that both shooters, along with other accomplices, had stayed in Karjat, where the group provided them with financial and logistical support.
Among the suspects still at large are the main shooter, Shivkumar Gautam, and two others, Shubham Lonkar and Mohammed Zeeshan Akhtar, who are believed to have been in close contact with the Bishnoi gang
Zeeshan Siddique vows to continue fighting for justice
Baba Siddique’s son and Congress MLA Zeeshan Siddique took to social media, vowing to continue the fight for justice. "They silenced my father. But they forget - he was a lion—and I carry his roar within me, his fight in my veins. He stood for justice, fought for change, and withstood the storms with unwavering courage. Now, those who brought him down turn their sights on me assuming they’ve won, to them I declare: The blood of a lion runs in my veins," he wrote on X.
"I am still here, unafraid and unbroken. They took one, but I rise in his place. This fight is far from over. Today, I stand where he stood: ALIVE, RELENTLESS and READY," he further wrote asserting his determination.
Baba Siddique was shot dead near the office of his son in Bandra by three assailants as he was walking towards the office to meet party workers. The shooters initially targeted Zeeshan, but he managed to escape by entering his vehicle parked nearby. The attackers then shifted their focus to Baba Siddique, who was about 200 meters from his car.
During the investigation, police found photos of Zeeshan and his vehicle on the Snapchat account of one suspect, revealing a planned assault on either Baba Siddique or his son.
The police suspect the Lawrence Bishnoi gang behind the murder as the arrested individuals were reportedly in contact with its members, which has been linked to Siddique's murder.
