Prime accused in Baba Siddique murder held

Shivkumar Gautam. Pic/sources

Shivkumar Gautam, the alleged main shooter involved in Baba Siddique's killing, has been arrested from Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich district. The Mumbai Crime Branch, in collaboration with the UP Special Task Force (STF), successfully apprehended Gautam, who had been absconding for the past month. According to the Crime Branch, Gautam fired three rounds at Siddique, two of which struck him in the chest, leading to his death.

Joint Commissioner of Mumbai Crime Branch Lakhmi Gautam, confirmed the arrest, calling it a major breakthrough. "The accused was arrested in a joint operation with the UP STF and marks significant progress in our investigation," he said.

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Sources reveal that a dedicated team of 26 officers from the Mumbai Crime Branch, led by API Amol Mali, played a crucial role in tracking and capturing Gautam.

Mali had been tailing Gautam since he initially went into hiding. The team reportedly reviewed hundreds of CCTV recordings, tracing Gautam's movement to Bahraich, where he was planning to flee to Nepal. Stationed in Bahraich for the past month, the team meticulously monitored Gautam's movements.

"We received information indicating he was hiding in a forest near Bahraich. As we gathered more intelligence, additional teams were dispatched, leading to his arrest along with that of several associates who were aiding his escape to Nepal," an officer involved in the operation explained.

In addition to Gautam, four other individuals - identified as Anurag Kashyap, Gyan Prakash Tripathi, Akhilesh Srivastava, and Akhilendra Pratap Singh - were also arrested from Bahraich. These arrests bring the total number of individuals apprehended in connection with the case to 23.

The UP STF has confirmed that the shooting was planned on the instructions of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi.

DCP Datta Nalawade said, "The team, comprising API Amol Mali (Unit 5), PSI Swapnil Kale (Unit 7), PC Vikas Chavan (Unit 3), and PC Mahesh Sawant (Unit 7), had been tracking and searching for the accused for the past 25 days. After confirming the whereabouts of the accused, a joint operation with the STF, UP, was conducted, involving a total of 21 police officers and personnel of Mumbai Crime Branch."