Baba Siddique murder: Crime Branch nabs another suspect from Pune, 16 arrested so far

Baba Siddique murder: Nationalist Congress Party leader and former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique was shot dead by three men in Mumbai's Bandra area on October 12.

In connection with the gruesome murder of NCP leader Baba Siddiqui, the Mumbai Crime Branch on Wednesday arrested another suspect from Pune. According to the information received, the accused has been identified as 23-year-old Gaurav Vilas Apune, who is alleged to be aware of the entire plan being made to kill the NCP leader. 

Significantly, speaking of the details regarding Apune's arrest, an official stated his name first came to light during the questioning of some of the arrested accused. "The accused revealed details about his involvement in the conspiracy to attack Siddique. He had also been promised a substantial amount of money for his role in the conspiracy.," the official stated. "Apune had been trained in the use of firearms by some of the absconding accused," he added. 

Meanwhile, it is pertinent to note that Apune's arrest marked the sixteenth arrest by the Mumbai Crime Branch in connection to the gruesome murder of Baba Siddiqui. Earlier on October 25, they arrested one Sujit Kumar Singh from Punjab's Ludhiana.

The police said Sujit (33) is a resident of Mumbai but had fled to Ludhiana a month before the crime occurred. He was staying with his in-laws in Ludhiana at the time of the arrest, police said.

Moreover, providing details regarding Kumar's association with the crime, an official said the accused had done some transactions of Rs 25,000 in the account of another accused Nitin and provided him with logistic support. 

About Baba Siddique murder case

Former Congress leader, Baba Siddique (66) was shot dead near Zeeshan Siddique's office on October 12 night. He was rushed to Lilavati Hospital where he was declared dead. When Baba Siddique was walking towards his car, the attackers allegedly used a tear gas-like substance. Following this, absconding accused Shivkumar Gautam fired six rounds from a 9 mm pistol and fled. According to sources, the other two accused did not fire but were carrying pistols and 28 live cartridges.