Punjab's Fazilka-based person arrested in Baba Siddique murder case

A Fazilka-based person was held by Punjab Police in a joint operation with the Maharashtra Police in connection with the murder of NCP leader and former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique, a top police officer said on Saturday.

Punjab Director General of Police Gaurav Yadav said the accused has been identified as Akash Gill, a native of Pakka Chishti of Fazilka district in Punjab.

"Preliminary investigation reveals the arrested accused is an associate of Lawrence Bishnoi Gang and was providing logistical assistance to the shooters involved in the murder of Baba Siddiqui," Yadav said in a post on X.

Gill has been handed over to the Mumbai Police for further investigations, he said.

Anti-Gangster Task Force Additional Director General of Police Promod Ban said the local police have been working closely with the Mumbai Police in the Baba Siddiqui murder case.

Earlier a Mumbai court had sent alleged main shooter Shivkumar Gautam and four others arrested in NCP politician Baba Siddique's murder case. The UP special task force and the Mumbai Crime Branch on Sunday arrested alleged shooter Shivkumar (20) and four others from Nanpara in Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich district..  The four other accused, Anurag Kashyap, Gyan Prakash Tripathi, Akash Srivastava and Akhilendra Pratap Singh, were arrested for sheltering Shivkumar and helping him flee to Nepal. The crime branch produced the accused before additional chief judicial magistrate Vinod Patil. Seeking their remand, police told court it wanted to probe the financial aspects of the case as well as how the shooter procured arms used in the crime.  Gill, whose alleged involvement came to the fore during the investigation, was arrested by the teams from the AGTF and the Mumbai Crime Branch from Sulemanki Road in Fazilka, he said. 

Siddique, 66, was shot dead by three people on a public road in Kher Nagar in Mumbai's Bandra area on October 12.