Anmol Bishnoi named main conspirator in Baba Siddique murder

The Mumbai police have named Anmol Bishnoi, the younger brother of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, as the main conspirator in the killing of NCP leader Baba Siddique. The police made the claim on Tuesday while seeking the remand of eight accused in the case, citing provisions of the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).

Special MCOCA court judge A M Patil remanded the eight accused, including the alleged main shooter Shivkumar Gautam, in police custody till December 7.

Former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique, 66, was shot dead on October 12 by three assailants outside his son Zeeshan Siddique's office building in Bandra East in Mumbai. He suffered two bullet injuries on his chest and was rushed to the Lilavati hospital, where he passed away.

Anmol Bishnoi, who was recently detained in the US and lodged in a prison there, has been shown as a wanted accused in the case.

During the remand hearing, the Mumbai police told the court that Anmol Bishnoi's name has surfaced as the main conspirator in the case during their probe. He was providing financial support to other accused and a probe was required to ascertain the source and utilisation of funds, they said.

Anmol had contacted the co-accused via a communication app, the police said, adding they needed to gather information on this aspect and hence custody of the arrested accused was required.

The crime branch has so far arrested 26 persons, including alleged main shooter Shivkumar Gautam, in connection with the case.

All the accused had earlier been sent in judicial custody by a magistrate court. On November 30, the police invoked provisions of the stringent MCOCA against all the 26 accused. Following this, all the accused were produced before the special court on Tuesday.

However, before the court proceedings began, the judge asked journalists present in the courtroom to leave after the prosecution raised an objection, saying the remand application has sensitive information.

The police sought remand of the eight accused, including Gautam, for further in-depth investigation into the matter.

Defence lawyers Roopesh Jaiswal, Ajinkya Mirgal and Dilip Shukla opposed the remand, saying the accused have already been in custody for over 40 days. The lawyers contended the MCOCA provisions are not made out against the accused as they have no previous cases against them.

Moreover, there is nothing on record to show these accused were part of the gang, which had two charge-sheets (an essential requirement to invoke MCOCA) against them, they said.

After hearing both the sides, the court sent the eight accused in police custody till December 7. The other accused were sent in 14-day judicial custody.

Besides Anmol Bishnoi, Shubham Lonkar is also a wanted accused in the case.