Baba Siddique murder case: Was sent to Mumbai by Bishnoi gang henchman, says Shooter

Gurmel Singh one of the three shooters charged with the murder of NCP leader Baba Siddique in his confessional statement to the Mumbai police said that he met Mohammad Zishan Akhtar alias Jassi a henchman employed by the Anmol Bishnoi gang at Kaithal jail in Haryana where he was lodged in a murder caseSingh told the police ldquoI was arrested by the Kharkhoda police along with other accused in a murder case in 2019 and remained imprisoned till 2022 In Kaithal jail I met Jassi a resident of Nawanshahr Punjab He was addicted to drugs and worked for a gang involved in serious crimes across Punjab and Haryana Jassi shared his Instagram ID with me and asked me to message him once I was releasedrdquo Singh told policeldquoA few days after coming out of jail in August 2022 I messaged Jassi via Instagram Sometime later he replied informing me that he had also been released During this period due to the passing of my mother my mental health was not stablerdquo he saidldquoAt that time Jassi came to Kaithal for a court hearing Later he and his friend Amit Nathi came to meet me in my village Narad Subsequently Nathi arranged for Jassi to stay in a small room in Kaithal There Jassi and I spent a lot of time together Nathi would also come and spend time with usrdquo he told policeldquoAt that time Jassi gave me a mobile number starting with 351hellip saying it was Anmolrsquos international number He showed it on WhatsApp and I was told that he used to communicate with Anmol on that number Later Jassi and Nathi used to talk to Anmol from Nawanshahr Jassi also had a friend named Akash Chauhan who was in jail Despite this both were communicating with each other via WhatsApp and Instagram During this period Jassi introduced me to Akash Chauhan At that time there were discussions about a big job involving Jassi Nathi and Chauhanrdquo he saidFrom left Shivkumar Gautam Dharamraj Kashyap and Gurmel Singh the trio who allegedly gunned down NCP leader Baba Siddique in October last yearBig job in MumbaildquoIn August 2022 following instructions from Anmol and Chauhan Jassi informed me that there was a big job in Mumbai and asked me to go to Mumbai He assured me that the boys would meet me there and brief me about the task He also promised me R50000 for this job and said he would send me abroad afterwardsrdquo he saidldquoConsequently towards the end of August 2022 on Jassirsquos advice I left my village and reached Delhi From there I travelled to Mumbai via the AmritsarDadar Express train After arriving at Dadar station I called the WhatsApp number 351hellip that Jassi had provided earlier and informed him about my arrival in Mumbairdquo he saidldquoAt that time Jassi sent me the contact information of Shivkumar Gautam alias Shiva and Dharamraj Kashyap along with their photos on my mobile With their help I met Shiva and Kashyap at Dadar stationrdquo he saidThe trio subsequently went to a room in Kurla rented by Gautam where he showed the photos of Zeeshan Siddique and his father Baba Siddique on his mobile phone to Singh ldquoHe told me that we had to kill one of the twordquo Singh told policeWhile Singh was sent to Mumbai by Jassi Gautam and Kashyap were sent to Mumbai by Punebased Shubham Lonkar and his brother Pravin The brothers allegedly worked as a sleeper cell for the Bishnoi gang which operated from Pune and provided logistical support to the shootersTriorsquos preparationsldquoShiva told me that he and Lonkar brothers were in constant touch with Anmol on Snapchatrdquo he saidAccording to Singhrsquos statement the shooters communicated with Anmol Jassi and the Lonkar brothers on Snapchat where the addresses of Siddiquersquos house and Zeeshanrsquos Kherwadi office were providedThe trio googled the names of their targets to learn what they looked like ldquoWe identified Baba Siddique and his son from posters outside the latterrsquos office in Kherwadirdquo he saidAfter receiving the images of their targets the trio started to conduct a recce of Zeeshanrsquos office and residence in Bandra in an autorickshaw During recce they gathered vital pieces of information like the time Siddique and Zeeshan visited the Kherwadi office and how and when they returned to their Bandra homeldquoAfter gathering vital pieces of information about the targets Shiva and Kashyap went to Pune and returned to Mumbai with the fake Aadhaar cards for us Later Shiva brought two pistols and some bullets to execute the murder planrdquo Singh saidldquoShiva and Kashyap would work for Harish Kashyap in Pune before coming to Mumbai Harish had been providing logistic support to Shivardquo he added After getting the two weapons the shooters were given one motorcycle to conduct a recce in the arealdquoNow we started to discuss how to execute the murder plan on Snapchatrdquo he saidldquoAccording to the plan now Shiva went to Karjat and brought three brand new handsets from Harish for all three of us We were directed by Anmol to discard our existing handsets and use these new handsets immediately after the murder plan was executedrdquo he saidldquoOne day Shiva and I went to near Ghatkopar railway station on the bike to get a murder weapon but none came to meet us So Shiva asked me to go back and he returned Kurla home with two pistols and bulletsrdquo he addedShubham suggested that the shooters practise firing guns before finally executing the murder plan So they did so in a jungle near Khopoli railway station After firing practice the shooters would reach Zeeshanrsquos Kherwadi office and Siddiquersquos home in Bandra West in an autorickshaw Later they would walk around the area carrying weapons in their bag ldquoDuring our recces we learnt Siddiquersquos car number We would wait near his residence Maqba Heights in Bandra and Zeeshanrsquos Kherwadi officerdquo he addedMurder nightldquoWe had learned that both father and son were at the Kherwadi office So we waited in Kherwadi for Siddique and Zeeshan There was a massive crowd of revellers on the road as it was Dussehra We learnt that Zeeshan had left the area in his car after we arrived at the spotrdquoLeft with no option the shooters began pumping bullets in the chest of Siddique who was seen walking towards his car parked a few metres away from the office2022Year Gurmel Singh was released from Kaithal jail