India's Lawrence Bishnoi gang takes credit for killing Baba Siddique

NEW DELHI: In a major development, India’s notorious Lawrence Bishnoi gang on Sunday took credit for killing former minister and member of the Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP, Baba Siddique.

Baba, 66, was gunned down outside his son Zeeshan Siddique's office in Mumbai's Bandra East last night.

Police believe three shooters were involved in the ex-minister’s murder. According to Indian media, two of the suspects — Gurmail Baljit Singh, 23, from Haryana and Dharamraj Kashyap, 19, from Uttar Pradesh — have been arrested.

Hours after the horrific incident, Bishnoi gang claimed responsibility for the murder through a social media post.

Police and other security agencies were investigating the post, reportedly linked to a Facebook account belonging to Shubuu Lonkar, who, sources suggest, may actually be Shubham Rameshwar Lonkar — an associate of the Bishnoi gang.

It is pertinent to mention here that Lonkar was taken into custody earlier this year from Maharashtra's Akola for possession of illegal weapons and is believed to have strong connections with the Bishnoi network.

During police interrogation, Lonkar admitted that he was in contact with Anmol Bishnoi, Lawrence's brother.

The probe into Siddiqui's murder has also revealed that two of the shooters, Dharamraj Kashyap and Shiv Kumar Gautam, hail from Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich. Both are neighbours and reportedly worked as labourers in Pune before being lured into the criminal underworld, the NDTV reported.

Bahraich Superintendent of Police (SP) Vrinda Shukla confirmed that Dharamraj has been arrested. The suspects had been monitoring Baba for months, conducting reconnaissance of his residence and office, said the police.

The police revealed that the suspects had been paid INR50,000 each in advance for the hit and that arms had been delivered to them only days before the assassination.

Bishnoi's name resurfaced in 2022 when renowned singer Sidhu Moosewala was killed on May 29 in Mansa, Indian Punjab. The gang had also claimed responsibility for killing the singer.