Mumbai Police's Crime Branch on Friday held the five accused for allegedly providing firearms and logistical support to the shooters of Baba Siddique, taking the total number of arrests in the case to nine. The accused had first demanded Rs 50 lakh for the job, but later backed out, the Police said, adding that they provided logistical and other support to those involved in shooting the former MLA dead.
The accused have been identified as Nitin Gautam Sapre (32), Sambhaji Kisan Pardhi (44), Pradeep Dattu Thombre (37), Chetan Dilip Pardhi and Ram Fulchand Kanoujia (43). Sapre is from Dombivali, while Pardhi, Thombre and Pardhi (27) are from Ambernath in Thane district. The search is on to nab the three key persons who are on the run.
Following the incident, the Lawrence Bishnoi gang had claimed the responsibility for Siddique's killing. Shubham Lonkar had publicly claimed responsibility for the attack on Siddique in a social media post. Mumbai police had arrested Gurmail Baljit Singh (23), a resident of Haryana and Dharmaraj Rajesh Kashyap (19), from Uttar Pradesh, whereas there one aide, who was at the spot during the firing, fled from the spot.