MUMBAI: Police probing the murder of former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique said the wanted accused Mohammed Zeeshan Akhtar is emerging as the key link between the shooters and the main conspirators. He is the one who had reportedly been operating around 10 different bank accounts, and sent money to the suspects’ bank accounts.
“Akhtar (29) and another wanted accused Shubham Lonkar (23), a Pune resident, are the two architects in the case.Akhtar had asked Lonkar to arrange for the shooters and sent Rs 3 lakh to 4 lakh as expenses to them,” said a police source. Akhtar allegedly sent money from Aug till the first week of Oct. Siddique was shot dead outside the office of his son, Zeeshan Siddique, in Bandra (East) on Oct 12. The motive behind the murder remains unclear.
“Two of the five accused arrested on Friday had also carried out reconnaissance. Akhtar had sent them money too,” said an officer. The five accused had reportedly received a total of Rs five lakh, in cash and bank accounts, for the job. They had supplied weapons, including Turkish, Australian, and locally-made pistols, to the shooters. The source added that Akhtar is suspected to have used other persons’ accounts to send money.
Akhtar, a resident of Nakodar in Jalandhar, has eight criminal cases against him including a murder, attempt to murder, extortion, criminal intimidation etc, registered in Punjab and Haryana. His mother passed away a few months ago. His elder brother runs their family in Jalandhar. “Akhtar, a Class 12 dropout, has been active in crime since 2017. We are trying to trace him. He seems to be the brain behind bringing all the accused together. His arrest will throw light on the conspiracy and the upper layer involved in the murder,” said the officer.
Police sources said that Akhtar and Lonkar had brought together the Bahraich group, consisting of two shooters, a man from Haryana, Pune accused’s group who conspired and the Ambernath men who provided weapons. Of the five arrested on Friday, three accused Nitin Sapre, Sambhaji Pardhi and Chetan Pardhi knew each other since they were arrested in the murder case of Somnath Pardhi in 2015 in Karjat. They were in jail till 2017 and were granted bail.
All the accused used social media apps to exchange information, photos, and discuss the conspiracy, said police. “We have recorded the statements of 20 to 25 people so far,” said police.
Nine accused have been arrested so far.
MLA Zeeshan Siddique, posted on X in English: “Not all that is hidden sleeps, nor all that is visible speaks” and another post in Hindi which translated means cowards often frighten the brave, even jackals kill lions by deceit.