A photograph of Zeeshan Siddique, the son of NCP leader Baba Siddique, was discovered on the mobile device of one of the individuals apprehended by the Mumbai Police, as reported on Saturday. The authorities indicated that this image was transmitted to the accused by their handler via Snapchat. The police elaborated that the investigation uncovered that both the shooters and the conspirators utilized Snapchat to exchange information, with messages being erased following specific directives. During an interrogation conducted by the Mumbai Crime Branch, the detained individual Ram Kanojia admitted that he was the initial recipient of the contract to assassinate Baba Siddique, for which he had requested a payment of one crore rupees. Kanojia’s testimony revealed that the fugitive Shubham Lonkar was the one who first approached him with the contract, and he expressed his concerns regarding the implications of such an act, prompting his high financial demand. Ultimately, Lonkar opted not to proceed with Kanojia and instead recruited shooters from Uttar Pradesh.
Kanojia further disclosed that Shubham Lonkar recognized that the individuals from Uttar Pradesh might lack a comprehensive understanding of Baba Siddique’s prominence and influence within Maharashtra, which would make them more amenable to accepting a lower fee for the assassination. Following the withdrawal of Ram Kanojia and Nitin Sapre from the contract, Shubham Lonkar proceeded to hire Dharma Raj Kashyap, Gurnail Singh, and Shivkumar Gautam from Uttar Pradesh to execute the plan. In light of these developments, a look-out circular has been issued for Shubham Lonkar, along with two other suspects, Shiv Kumar Gautam and Zeeshan Akhtar, who are suspected of attempting to escape to Nepal.
