Mumbai: Akashdeep Gill, the 24th accused in the murder of NCP leader Baba Siddique, who was arrested from Fazilka, Punjab, has said that he was directly in contact with gangster Anmol Bishnoi regarding the murder plot.

Details Revealed

According to the police, Gill disclosed to the Mumbai Crime Branch during interrogation that he acted as a conduit for Anmol’s instructions, passing them on to arrested accused Sujeet Singh alias Babbu and the three shooters, Shiv Kumar Gautam, Dharmraj Kashyap, and Gurmail Singh. Gill is also stated to have revealed that Bishnoi had been in constant communication with him, orchestrating the murder plan and giving orders that he conveyed to Sujeet Singh and Shiv Kumar.

Gill stated that after the shooters arrived in Mumbai, he established contact with Shubham Lonkar and Zeeshan Akhtar at Anmol’s behest, relaying their instructions to the shooters, and admitted to being involved in the conspiracy and providing critical logistical support for the murder, the police said.

Things Revealed By Primary Shooter Shiv Kumar Gautam

Primary shooter Shiv Kumar Gautam revealed during interrogation that he was told the target’s name after arriving in Mumbai, by Shubham Lonkar whom he knew for three years. Lonkar had approached Gautam in Pune with a proposal to kill a person linked to Dawood Ibrahim. Gautam had agreed after two days and involved Dharmraj Kashyap in the plan. However, he later accused Shubham Lonkar of setting him up.

The Crime Branch discovered that 36 lakh was deposited into the account of Salmanbhai Vohra, an accused arrested from Akola, via deposit machines within India. Vohra transferred approximately 5 lakh to the accounts of Gurmail Singh’s brother Naresh Singh, and coaccused Rupesh Mohol and Harish ~ Kumar Nishad. According to the Crime Branch, Vohra was involved in hawala activities, but it is not yet known who deposited the 6 lakh.

The Crime Branch investigation revealed that the last known location of key conspirators and absconders Shubham Lonkar and Zeeshan Akhtar was near Jama Masjid in Delhi. Both were in Delhi in July 2024. Shubham had fled Pune to meet Zeeshan in Delhi, and after plotting the murder, the two disappeared from there. Their current location remains untraced.

The investigation also revealed that initially, accused Nitin Sapre was included as the third shooter in the Bishnoi gang’s plan. However, due to his drug addiction and the potential risk of the plan failing, he was replaced by Gurmail Singh. The police said that the accused were in contact with each other through the Zangi and Signal apps.

Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Election 2024 is just around the corner. All eyes are on the big fight between the ruling Mahayuti, led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde (Shiv Sena-Shinde) alongwith Deputy Chief Ministers Devendra Fadnavis (BJP), Ajit Pawar (NCP); and the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) led by Sharad Pawar (NCP-Sharad Pawar), Uddhav Thackeray (Shiv Sena-UBT) and Nana Patole (Congress). Vandre East Assembly constituency is one of the key constituencies everyone has their eyes on. Vandre East assembly constituency comes in Mumbai North Lok Sabha constituency.

Vandre East (or Bandra East) constituency is one of the 288 seats from the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly up for grabs. The constituency, designated by number 176, falls in Mumbai Suburban District. Vandre East, the general category constituency, is currently represented in Maharashtra Legislative Assembly by NCP’ Zeeshan Siddique.

Zeeshan Siddique, whose father Baba Siddique was murdered recently, is contesting the election this time as well. Against him is Varun Sardesai from Shiv Sena (UBT).

In Maharashtra Legislative Assembly Elections 2019, Zeeshan Siddique defeated Shiv Sena’s Vishwanath Mahadeshwar by 5790 votes. Siddique got 38337 votes while Mahadeshwar got 32547 votes.

In 2015 by-election, Shiv Sena’s Trupti Sawant secured victory.

As per latest numbers from Election Commission Vandre East constituency has 2,49,104 voters.

Current situation in Maharashtra assembly:

Currently, the ruling dispensation in Maharashtra has 202 MLAs with it. Out of these, BJP has 102 seats, NCP (Ajit Pawar) has 40, Shiv Sena (Shinde) has 38 and other parties have 22.

The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has 69 seats in its kitty. Out of these, Congress has 37, Shiv Sena (UBT) has 16, NCP (Sharad Pawar) has 12 while other parties have six seats. Fifteen seats are vacant.

Mumbai: If Maharashtra has emerged as the mother of all state polls and poll sops, Baramati is arguably “the one” within Maharashtra. All eyes are on this constituency where the uncle-nephew dynamic is at the centre yet again.

From Sharad Pawar vs Ajit Pawar, though, the battle lines have shifted to Ajit Pawar vs Yugendra Pawar; with the puppeteer being the doyen, ‘dhurandhar neta’ (strongman) Sharad Pawar, himself. In the very final rally held on Monday in Baramati, Sharad Pawar, while pitching for his 32-year-old grandnephew Yugendra, said the constituency is known across the country for its development work and needs a young generation MLA.

‘Don’t Fall Prey To The Appeal,’ Says Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar

Ajit Pawar, the 65-year-old Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, for his part, called the appeal “emotional” and urged people not to fall prey to it. Sharad Pawar said, “In 1967, you made me the MLA from Baramati. I went on to become a minister and then the chief minister. After that, Ajit dada was given an opportunity to serve you as a representative of the new generation. He worked here for over two decades. The party gave him opportunity; he was made deputy CM, not once, twice, but thrice (in governments of Congress-undivided NCP). I have no complaints; he also worked.. But now the next generation is Yugendra Pawar.”

In a rare instance, the NCP (SP) chief was accompanied by his wife Pratibha Pawar. Also present at the rally were Supriya Sule, Revati Sule, and other members of Yuvendra Pawar’s family. As the campaign concluded, he held Yugendra’s hand high, with Pratibha Pawar affectionately touching his face, exhibiting her support and love. “We have worked for 50 years to change the face of Baramati,” said Sharad Pawar, with the crowd cheering and shouting out his name.