Key Points
Mumbai A court in Mumbai sent Pravin Lonkar, the third accused arrested in the Baba Siddique murder case, to police custody till October 21 on Monday, even as teams of cops fanned out across other parts of the country to hunt for three more suspects, including two they describe as holding the key to the conspiracy.I)..
According to police officials who asked not to be named, the two -- Shiva Kumar Gautam from Bharaich in Uttar Pradesh and Shubham Lonkar from Pune are part of the crucial link that can tie the brazen Saturday evening killing of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader to jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi..
Gautam fired the shots that killed Siddique and was hired by Lonkar, who recruited two others for the hit as well..
The Mumbai Police on Monday submitted to a local court that the plot to murder Siddique was helmed by Lonkar and his brother Praveen, who was arrested late on Sunday from Pune by the Mumbai Police Crime Branch..
An official associated with the investigation explained Shubham Lonkars possible connection to Bishnoi, citing his statements to police in January when he was arrested by police in Akola under the Arms Act for supplying weapons to others..