Baba Siddique killing: Fourth suspect arrested in the case

The Mumbai Police has claimed to have arrested the fourth suspect in the murder of NCP leader Baba Siddique.

According to Indian media outlets, the suspect identified as Harishkumar Balakram was arrested from Uttar Pradesh’s Bahraich and was charged with conspiracy, providing money and logistical support to the shooters of the politician.

Balakram became the fourth individual to be arrested after Gurmail Baljit Singh and Dharm Rajesh Kashyap were arrested on October 11, the day Siddique was shot dead while Shiv Kumar Gautam, who fired shots at the NCP leader, escaped after the shooting.

Reports had said that Gautam, in the past, had been proudly flaunting his ‘gangster’ status on social site Instagram.

In an Instagram post by Shiv Kumar Gautam, from July 24, which sees the murder suspect standing by a motorcycle, he had captioned, “Yaar tera gangster hai jaani (your friend is a gangster),” whereas, in a post before, shared on 8th of the same month, “Sharif baap hai, hum nahin (my father is an honourable man, not me).”

It is not to be noted that Pravin Lonkar, a ‘co-conspirator’ of Siddique’s murder, was arrested from Pune on October 13, as per reports.

Mumbai claimed to have recovered two pistols from the apprehended accused while searching for the absconding three accused including Shubham Lonkar, Shiv Kumar Gautam and Mohammad Zeeshan Akhtar.

Baba Siddique, famous for hosting Iftar dinners every year, sustained bullet injuries in his chest as three rounds were fired at him while he was bursting crackers outside his office on October 11.

He was rushed to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.

The 65-year-old NCP leader was a prominent Muslim political figure in Maharashtra who held positions as minister for Labor, FDA, and Minister of State for Food and Civil Supplies.

The slain politician was known for his close ties with the Bollywood actors including Salman Khan who visited the Lilavati Hospital where Siddique was brought after he was shot.