NEW DELHI
\nIndia\u2019s notorious Lawrence Bishnoi gang has claimed responsibility for the assassination of former minister and member of the Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP, Baba Siddique, it emerged on Sunday. Baba, 66, was gunned down outside his son Zeeshan Siddique\u2019s office in Mumbai\u2019s Bandra East last night.
\nPolice believe three shooters were involved in the ex-minister\u2019s murder. According to Indian media, two of the suspects \u2014 Gurmail Baljit Singh, 23, from Haryana and Dharamraj Kashyap, 19, from Uttar Pradesh \u2014 have been arrested.
\nHours after the horrific incident, Bishnoi gang claimed responsibility for the murder through a social media post.
\nPolice and other security agencies were investigating the post, reportedly linked to a Facebook account belonging to Shubuu Lonkar, who, sources suggest, may actually be Shubham Rameshwar Lonkar \u2014 an associate of the Bishnoi gang.
\nIt is pertinent to mention here that Lonkar was taken into custody earlier this year from Maharashtra\u2019s Akola for possession of illegal weapons and is believed to have strong connections with the Bishnoi network.
\nDuring police interrogation, Lonkar admitted that he was in contact with Anmol Bishnoi, Lawrence\u2019s brother.
\nThe probe into Siddiqui\u2019s murder has also revealed that two of the shooters, Dharamraj Kashyap and Shiv Kumar Gautam, hail from Uttar Pradesh\u2019s Bahraich. Both are neighbours and reportedly worked as labourers in Pune before being lured into the criminal underworld, the NDTV reported.
\nBahraich Superintendent of Police (SP) Vrinda Shukla confirmed that Dharamraj has been arrested. The suspects had been monitoring Baba for months, conducting reconnaissance of his residence and office, said the police.
\nThe police revealed that the suspects had been paid INR50,000 each in advance for the hit and that arms had been delivered to them only days before the assassination.
\nBishnoi\u2019s name resurfaced in 2022 when renowned singer Sidhu Moosewala was killed on May 29 in Mansa, Indian Punjab. The gang had also claimed responsibility for killing the singer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
NEW DELHI India\u2019s notorious Lawrence Bishnoi gang has claimed responsibility for the assassination of former minister and member of the Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP, Baba Siddique, it emerged on Sunday. Baba, 66, was gunned down outside his son Zeeshan Siddique\u2019s office in Mumbai\u2019s Bandra East last night. Police believe three shooters were involved […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":437111,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-437089","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n