Four close friends, whose late-night conversations on social media apps raised suspicions, have played a pivotal role in helping Mumbai Police track down Shivkumar Gautam, the main shooter of NCP leader Baba Siddique, in Uttar Pradesh, officials said on Monday.
The Mumbai Crime Branch and the Uttar Pradesh police Special Task Force arrested Gautam along with Anurag Kashyap, Gyan Prakash Tripathi, Akash Srivastava and Akhilendra Pratap Singh on Sunday in Uttar Pradesh's Nanpara area, near the Nepal border.
The investigation was triggered by suspicious activities of Gautam's four friends, who were spotted purchasing clothes in various sizes and planning to meet him in a remote forest about 10 kilometres from Nanpara on bikes.
The police later discovered that they were intending to assist Gautam in fleeing the country via the Nepal route, according to officials.
The four men had been in constant touch with Gautam through internet calls on mobile phones, purchased in Lucknow. Their communication, especially during late hours, had caught the attention of authorities, leading to increased surveillance.
Gautam, who allegedly shot Siddique at close range on October 12 night in Mumbai's Bandra area, initially travelled from the crime scene to Kurla. He boarded a local train to Thane.
He dumped his bag and mobile phone during the journey, the officials added.
He travelled onward to Pune. After reaching Pune at around 3:30 AM on October 13, he boarded a train to Lucknow. During his journey, he made several calls to his handlers using the mobile phones of passengers, officials said.
Gautam checked the news where he learned of Siddique's death. Gautam later travelled to his native Bahraich and onward to Nanpara, where he took refuge in a remote village near the Nepal border.
Gautam was hiding in the hamlet of 10 to 15 hutments, around 10 km from Nanpara, officials said.
The Crime Branch, working with human intelligence and local sources, focused on a group of 10 to 12 individuals closely associated with Gautam.
Among them, four friends stood out as likely collaborators. Surveillance revealed that these men were techno-savvy and had been buying clothes for Gautam in preparation for his escape.
Police started monitoring their activities.
"These four persons used to communicate with each other on the internet late at night," a crime branch official added.
A few days ago, all of them purchased pairs of shirts and trousers of different sizes from a cloth shop in Nanpara, he said.
On Sunday, as the four friends travelled to meet Gautam on two motorcycles, police teams, with assistance from Uttar Pradesh Police, intercepted them on a bridge on the outskirts of Nanpara.
The group was apprehended, and their capture led police to Gautam's hideout. He was subsequently arrested in the remote village, the official said.
Former Maharashtra minister Siddique, 66, was shot dead on October 12 by three assailants outside his son MLA Zeeshan Siddique's office building in Bandra East, Mumbai.
He sustained two bullet injuries on his chest and was rushed to the Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai, where he passed away.
A Mumbai court on Monday remanded in police custody till November 19 Shivkumar Gautam and four others to help investigators probe financial transactions and procurement of firearms.
Main shooter has no criminal history, say UP cops
Suspected main shooter Shivkumar Gautam arrested in the NCP leader Baba Siddique's murder case has no criminal history while three of his accomplices have been booked here earlier for molesting a minor girl, a senior official said on Monday.
The Uttar Pradesh STF and Mumbai Police on Sunday arrested Shivkumar along with his four protectors -- Anurag Kashyap, Gyan Prakash Tripathi, Akash Srivastava and Akhilendra Pratap Singh -- from Nanpara in Bahraich district.
"During investigation, we have found that main accused Shivkumar Gautam alias Shiva and his accomplice Anurag Kashyap have no criminal history in Bahraich," Superintendent of Police Vrinda Shukla said.
However, Shukla said that a case was registered against three others -- Akhilendra, Akash and Gyan Prakash -- who were arrested on Sunday, for allegedly molesting a minor during a Moharram procession and under sections of the POCSO Act.
It has also come to the fore that they had some land dispute with the other party, she said, adding that a probe is on in the matter.
According to police, Anurag, Gyan Prakash, Akash, and Akhilendra have been arrested for sheltering Shivkumar and helping him flee to Nepal.
Meanwhile, during interrogation, Shivkumar said he was told that in exchange for killing Siddique he would get Rs 10 lakh after the murder and that every month he would get something, the UP STF said in a statement.
Shivkumar also told the STF that they had been following Siddique in Mumbai for several days and on the night of October 12 when they got the right time, they killed him, the statement said.
According to the STF, Shivkumar told the force that "he and Dharmaraj Kashyap (already arrested in the case) are from the same village. He used to work as a scrap dealer in Pune. His and Shubham Lonkar's scrap shops were next to each other".
The main shooter said Lonkar worked for gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and made him talk to Lawrence's brother Anmol Bishnoi several times through SnapChat, according to the statement.
Meanwhile, Shivkumar's mother Suman said her son could not commit murder.
"I was unwell, the media people woke me up in the morning and then I came to know that Shiva has been arrested," the mother told reporters with tears in her eyes.
"We had no news of him since four days after Holi in March. We do not know what he did but he has never even killed an ant here. We do not believe that he would do such a thing," she said.
Meanwhile, family members of the Shivkumar's accomplices said they are "innocent".
Vishal Srivastava, the elder brother of Akash, told reporters, "We only know that Anurag, a resident of the village, took them all with him. My brother is innocent. He is being framed in the case."
Pradeep Tripathi, father of Gyan Prakash, also said that his son is innocent.
"Two boys from the village lived next door, they did something wrong there (in Maharashtra). My son was their friend. My son used to work at a mobile shop. The day before yesterday he said that he was going to Gonda...at night we came to know that police had taken him away," he said.
Radhey Kashyap, father of Anurag said, "He (Anurag) was here four or five days ago. We only knew that he had gone with some businessmen to sell clothes and would come back. In the morning, we came to know that Anurag was arrested."
Main shooter Shivkumar sent to police custody till Nov 19
A local court on Monday remanded in police custody till November 19 alleged main shooter Shivkumar Gautam and four others arrested in NCP politician Baba Siddique's murder case to help investigators probe financial transactions and procurement of firearms.
The police told the court that Gautam was in contact with wanted accused Shubham Lonkar.
A month after the fatal attack on the NCP leader on October 12, the Mumbai crime branch in a joint operation with Uttar Pradesh's special task force nabbed Gautam and four others from UP.
The police have so far arrested 23 accused in connection with the murder.
The police on Monday sought custody of the five accused arrested from UP to ascertain financial transactions among the accused and how the firearms used in the crime were acquired and to track down the main conspirators.
The four other accused, Anurag Kashyap, Gyan Prakash Tripathi, Akash Srivastava and Akhilendra Pratap Singh, were arrested for sheltering Gautam.
As per the police, Gautam was planning to flee to Nepal.
Additional chief judicial magistrate Vinod Patil remanded the five accused to police custody after accepting that custodial interrogation was required.
Seeking their remand, police told the court it wanted to probe the financial aspects of the case as well as how the shooter procured arms used in the crime.
Accused Anurag Kashyap provided Gautam Rs 2 lakh and the investigation is needed to trace the source of this money, police told the court.
Gautam was in touch with wanted accused Shubham Lonkar, police said.
Advocate Amit Mishra, appearing for the accused, said Gautam was ready to cooperate in the investigation and that he could be remanded in police custody.
Mishra requested the court to remand four other accused for a minimum period as no specific role had been assigned to them in the crime.
They are just accused of providing Shivkumar shelter, Mishra argued in court.
Former Maharashtra minister Siddique, 66, was shot dead on October 12 by three assailants outside his son MLA Zeeshan Siddique's office building in Bandra East, Mumbai.
He sustained two bullet injuries on his chest and was rushed to the Lilavati hospital in Mumbai, where he passed away.
Shubham Lonkar and his brother Pravin, who was arrested last month from Pune, had allegedly “enlisted” two alleged shooters including Shivkumar Gautam for executing Siddique's murder, police had said.
