Mumbai, Police scoured places of worship in Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain and Khandwa in search of the third shooter wanted in connection with the murder of NCP leader Baba Siddique.

Six bullets were fired at Baba Siddique, two of which hit the former Maharashtra minister in the chest, outside the office of his son MP Zeeshan Siddique at Nirmal Nagar in Mumbai between 9:15 pm and 9:30 pm on Saturday.

Police have so far arrested three people: Haryana resident Gurmail Baljit Singh, Uttar Pradesh native Dharmaraj Rajesh Kashyap, both suspected shooters, and ‘co-conspirator’ Pravin Lonkar from Pune.

Another suspected shooter, Shivkumar Gautam, from Bahraich in UP and on the run, has taken to posting content online in recent months, flaunting his “gangster” status.

“Yaar tera gangster hai jaani,” Gautam captioned his photo on his Instagram account on July 24. The photo showed him riding a motorcycle while a Haryanvi song played in the background.

The alleged “manager” Mohammad Yasin Akhtar is also wanted in this case.

The Mumbai Police’s search for Gautam continued for the second day in Madhya Pradesh on Monday, with joint teams focusing on places of worship in Ujjain and Khandwa districts, officials said.

A senior MP Khandwa district police official on Monday said the shooters arrested by the Mumbai Police had told their interrogators that they had visited some places of worship.

It is possible that the accused, while on the run, might visit these places again, he said.

Asked about the presence of ‘jyotirlingas’ in these two districts and whether the accused could be a devotee, the official said he would not comment.

Khandwa shares a border with Maharashtra, the official noted, adding that “we have not received any information about its whereabouts.”

Ujjain and Khandwa are famous for the Mahakal and Omkareshwar temples which attract thousands of people every day.

A senior Ujjain police official said on Monday evening that the Mumbai team was still in the district. So far, they haven’t found any leads, he added.

A Mumbai police team reached MP on Sunday, a day after Siddique was shot dead.

Police were also checking a social media post, attributed to suspected gang member Lawrence Bishnoi, admitting to Siddique’s murder.

The crime branch was investigating various angles, including a possible contract killing, a business or political rivalry or a threat over a slum rehabilitation project, officials said.

Mumbai Police set up 15 teams that fanned out across Maharashtra in search of individuals linked to the high-profile murder.

The suspected shooter Gautam hails from Gandara village in Bahraich district, where residents and police said he had no criminal history. They said he had gone to work at a scrap metal shop in Pune, Maharashtra.

A post of him on Instagram on July 8 was captioned, “Sharif baap hai #hum nahin.”

On May 26, he posted a brief video of a cityscape accompanied by background music from “KGF,” a movie about a mercenary, with its dialogue “Powerful people make places powerful.”

The third accused in the case – Pravin Lonkar – was produced before a Mumbai court which remanded him in police custody till October 21. He is accused of having “enlisted” two of the three suspected shooters who opened fire on Siddique.

According to police, Pravin Lonkar’s brother Shubham Lonkar, who is yet to be apprehended, is believed to be associated with jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi.

The prosecution claimed that Shubham Lonkar and other wanted accused plotted the shooting and provided weapons to the gunmen who attacked the 66-year-old politician.

Pravin Lonkar is to be taken to Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar for further investigation and hence his custody was necessary, police told the court.

Meanwhile, Punjab Police said Yasin Akhtar, one of the suspects in Siddique’s murder and a resident of Shankar village in Jalandhar district, was facing nine heinous criminal cases, including murder and attempted murder. murder.

Akhtar was arrested in connection with a criminal case in June 2022 and did not visit his village after his release in June 2024, police said.

Akhtar is suspected of having links with gangster Vikram Brar. PTI LAL SP NSK CHS VSD RC MAN KIS DC BNM GK

This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modification to the text.