Baba Siddique murder case: ‘Bishnoi gang used patriotism bait to recruit shooters’

The confessional statements of NCP leader Baba Siddiquersquos shooters claim that Anmol Bishnoi brother of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi had spoken to them over the phone to enlist their help in killing the politician Invoking patriotism Anmol claimed that Siddique was associated with Dawood Ibrahim and involved in bomb blastsAnmol also promised a payment of Rs 10 lakhRs 15 lakh upon completing the job The planning for the attack reportedly began in June 2024 These revelations come from the confessional statements of the three shootersmdashShivkumar Gautam Dharamraj Kashyap and Gurmel Singh In his statement Gautam detailed the events of the shooting dayldquoOn the evening of October 12 2024 Kashyap Singh and I left our rented house in Kurla with weapons in our bags Kashyap also carried a spray to use during the attack We took an autorickshaw to Kherwadi junction in Bandra and walked some distance to Siddiquersquos son Zeeshanrsquos office We waited outside hoping to catch either Siddique or Zeeshan We soon learned that both had already arrived at the officerdquo the statement readShivkumar Gautam in hood who is accused of killing Baba Siddique File picAshish RajeldquoSince it was Dussehra the roads were crowded with people and firecrackers were being lit After some time Zeeshan left in his car Around 9 pm Siddique came out of the office and started walking toward his car Seeing the opportunity Dharamraj Gurmel and I approached him Kashyap and I fired at Siddique using our pistols As per the plan Kashyap used the spray he had brought Siddique was injured and fell to the groundAfter the attack we fled with our weapons and bag I ran a short distance jumped over a compound wall and hid near a vehicle parked on the opposite side There I changed my shirt placed it along with the weapon in the bag and threw the bag under the vehicle From there I called Anmol and Shubham Lonkar a wanted accused via Snapchat and informed them that the task was completed Anmol instructed me to switch off my phone and dispose of itrdquo the statement readAjinkya Mirgal lawyer of accusedldquoFollowing his instructions I switched off my phone walked a little further and took an autorickshaw to Kurla railway station From there I boarded a local train to Thane Near Thane station I threw my phone into a pond while descending from the station bridge I then returned to Thane station and caught a train to Pune The next day I boarded another train to Lucknow From Lucknow station I took a bus to Bahraich where I contacted my friends Gyan Prakash Tripathi Akhilendra Singh Akash Srivastava and Anurag K Yap who helped me hide and evade arrest After a few days I suspected that the police might be closing in on me so I started preparing to escape to Nepal However the Mumbai Police arrested merdquoLucrative offerAccording to the charge sheet filed by the Crime Branch Gautam the main shooter revealed in his confessional statement that in June 2024 Shubham approached him and Kashyap with an offer Shubham allegedly told them that they could earn R10 lakh to R15 lakh if they agreed to carry out a task When Gautam inquired about the work Shubham informed them that the job was to kill Siddique or Zeeshan but refrained from sharing detailsIn his confessional statement Gautam further revealed that one day Shubham made a video call to Anmol using Snapchat and introduced him and Kashyap to Anmol During the call Anmol greeted them saying ldquoRam Ram Bhai how are you Are you scaredrdquo He then motivated them by claiming that the targetsmdashSiddique and his sonmdashwere associated with Dawood Ibrahim and involved in bomb blasts Anmol assured them that if they needed money they could ask Shubham who would make arrangements This convinced Gautam and Kashyap that Shubham and his brother Pravin were working for the Bishnoi gangGautam also disclosed that during their nighttime visits to Shubham and Pravin Lonkarrsquos dairy he discovered that the former regularly spoke to Anmol via Snapchat autam overheard several conversations between the Lonkar brothers and Anmol on speakerphone During one such discussion Anmol inquired about Rupesh Mohol and his friends who lived in Pune and frequently visited the dairyDirect communicationLater Shubham asked Gautam to download the Snapchat app on his phone to communicate directly with Anmol Gautam created two Snapchat IDs He primarily used an ID named ldquoSunny Sunnyrdquo to contact Anmol Initially a man named Sumit would answer the calls and after a while Anmol would join the conversation to discuss their assignments Gautam added that they also used another Snapchat ID ldquoAmit Pandit 712rdquo for communication Sometimes he Shubham and Anmol would have group calls on Snapchat to discuss the plansGautam further stated that Shubham informed him and Kashyap that the weapons would be arranged by Babbu Singh a Bishnoi gang associate based in Mumbai He also mentioned that after the murder further arrangements were to be made by ShubhamGautam revealed that he and Kashyap acting on the instructions of Anmol and Shubham had decided to travel to Mumbai to murder Baba Siddiqui or his son Following Shubhamrsquos request Gautam and Kashyap came to Mumbai in August 2024 to rent a room After extensive searching they found a room in a chawl near Phoenix Mall in Kurla with the help of an agent They then returned to PuneA few days later Gautam and Kashyap moved into the rented house in Kurla On September 4 Anmol contacted Gautam and informed him that someone would meet him to deliver the weapon The individual met Gautam at Andheri stationlsquoWill seek bailrsquoldquoAll the accusedrsquos confessional statements have already been retracted and applications regarding the same have been submitted to the courtrdquo said Advocate Ajinkya Mirgal who is representing several of the 26 accused arrested29No of individuals named in Crime Branchrsquos charge sheet