Baba Siddique Murder: Three arrested from Pune, total reaches 14

The arrested individuals from Pune include Rupesh Rajendra Mohol (22), Karan Rahul Salve (19), and Shivam Arvind Kohad (20)

Police have arrested four more persons in the NCP leader Baba Siddique’s murder case, including a Haryana native suspected to be an important link between a shooter and the mastermind of the conspiracy.

Amit Hisamsing Kumar, 29, was nabbed from Haryana, while three others were arrested from Pune late Wednesday evening, bringing the total number of arrested accused in the case to 14. The arrested individuals from Pune include Rupesh Rajendra Mohol (22), Karan Rahul Salve (19), and Shivam Arvind Kohad (20), according to a police official.

Amit Kumar is suspected of being involved in hatching the murder conspiracy and its execution. Some suspected financial dealings involving him and other accused are also under scrutiny, the official stated. Kumar is considered an important link between one of the shooters in custody, Gurmail Singh, and the alleged mastermind, Mohammed Zeeshan Akhtar, who is absconding. According to police, Akhtar was the common link between shooters and murder conspirators.

Kumar was nabbed on Tuesday evening from Haryana by a crime branch team and brought to Mumbai on Wednesday morning. He has been remanded in police custody until November 4. Siddique, 66, was shot dead outside his MLA son Zeeshan Siddique’s office in the Bandra area of Mumbai on October 12. Investigators have not yet established the motive behind the murder and are probing the crime from different angles, including contract killing, business rivalry, or threats over a slum rehabilitation project in Mumbai.

Those arrested so far include two suspected shooters—Dharmaraj Kashyap and Gurmail Singh—while the main shooter, Shivkumar Gautam, and two conspirators remain at large. The investigation suggests that a five-member Thane-based contract killing module was initially given the contract to kill the former Maharashtra minister. However, the module backed out of the contract over a disagreement regarding the demand for a sum of Rs 50 lakh for executing the crime, citing the clout of the late politician, even though they provided logistical support and other assistance for carrying out the hit, according to police.