MUMBAI: Police are pursuing leads that suggest the murder of former MLA and minister Ziauddin ‘Baba’ Siddique was a contract killing carried out at the behest of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi who used his network to hire youths, two of them with no criminal background, and provided them sophisticated weapons for the job.
Akola resident Shubham Lonkar, who was held in an Arms Act case in Jan, put up a social media post linking Bishnoi’s gang and Siddique’s murder, saying the politician was targeted due to his links with actor Salman Khan and alleged connections with Dawood Ibrahim.While he is on the run, his brother Pravin (28) has been arrested in Pune for conspiracy and for enlisting the two assailants in custody for the murder – Haryana resident Gurnail Singh (23) and Dharmaraj Kashyap (19).

Singh and Kashyap were nabbed after a chase and a search near Siddique’s legislator son Zeeshan’s office Saturday night. Police are looking for shooter Shivkumar Gautam (24), who escaped in the melee, and a fourth suspect named Zeeshan Akhtar, who is believed to have accepted the contract on their behalf.