Baba Siddique murder case: Was sent to Mumbai by Bishnoi gang henchman, says Shooter

Gurmel Singh, who met goon in jail in Haryana, spilt beans to cops about how trio killed Baba Siddique; the trio subsequently went to a room in Kurla rented by Gautam, where he showed the photos of Zeeshan Siddique and his father Baba Siddique on his mobile phone to Singh

Gurmel Singh, one of the three shooters charged with the murder of NCP leader Baba Siddique, in his confessional statement to the Mumbai police, said that he met Mohammad Zishan Akhtar alias Jassi, a henchman employed by the Anmol Bishnoi gang, at Kaithal jail in Haryana where he was lodged in a murder case.

Singh told the police, “I was arrested by the Kharkhoda police along with other accused in a murder case in 2019 and remained imprisoned till 2022. In Kaithal jail, I met Jassi, a resident of Nawanshahr, Punjab. He was addicted to drugs and worked for a gang involved in serious crimes across Punjab and Haryana. Jassi shared his Instagram ID with me and asked me to message him once I was released,” Singh told police.

“A few days after coming out of jail in August 2022, I messaged Jassi via Instagram. Sometime later, he replied, informing me that he had also been released. During this period, due to the passing of my mother, my mental health was not stable,” he said.

“At that time, Jassi came to Kaithal for a court hearing. Later, he and his friend Amit Nathi came to meet me in my village, Narad. Subsequently, Nathi arranged for Jassi to stay in a small room in Kaithal. There, Jassi and I spent a lot of time together. Nathi would also come and spend time with us,” he told police.

“At that time, Jassi gave me a mobile number starting with +351…, saying it was Anmol’s international number. He showed it on WhatsApp, and I was told that he used to communicate with Anmol on that number. Later, Jassi and Nathi used to talk to Anmol from Nawanshahr. Jassi also had a friend named Akash Chauhan, who was in jail. Despite this, both were communicating with each other via WhatsApp and Instagram. During this period, Jassi introduced me to Akash Chauhan. At that time, there were discussions about a big job involving Jassi, Nathi and Chauhan,” he said.

Big job in Mumbai

“In August 2022, following instructions from Anmol and Chauhan, Jassi informed me that there was a big job in Mumbai and asked me to go to Mumbai. He assured me that the boys would meet me there and brief me about the task. He also promised me R50,000 for this job and said he would send me abroad afterwards,” he said.

“Consequently, towards the end of August 2022, on Jassi’s advice, I left my village and reached Delhi. From there, I travelled to Mumbai via the Amritsar-Dadar Express train. After arriving at Dadar station, I called the WhatsApp number +351… that Jassi had provided earlier and informed him about my arrival in Mumbai,” he said.

“At that time, Jassi sent me the contact information of Shivkumar Gautam, alias Shiva, and Dharamraj Kashyap along with their photos on my mobile. With their help, I met Shiva and Kashyap at Dadar station,” he said.

The trio subsequently went to a room in Kurla rented by Gautam, where he showed the photos of Zeeshan Siddique and his father Baba Siddique on his mobile phone to Singh. “He told me that we had to kill one of the two,” Singh told police.

While Singh was sent to Mumbai by Jassi, Gautam and Kashyap were sent to Mumbai by Pune-based Shubham Lonkar and his brother Pravin. The brothers allegedly worked as a sleeper cell for the Bishnoi gang which operated from Pune and provided logistical support to the shooters.

Trio’s preparations

“Shiva told me that he and Lonkar brothers were in constant touch with Anmol on Snapchat,” he said.

According to Singh’s statement, the shooters communicated with Anmol, Jassi and the Lonkar brothers on Snapchat, where the addresses of Siddique’s house and Zeeshan’s Kherwadi office were provided.

The trio googled the names of their targets to learn what they looked like. “We identified Baba Siddique and his son from posters outside the latter’s office in Kherwadi,” he said.

After receiving the images of their targets, the trio started to conduct a recce of Zeeshan’s office and residence in Bandra in an autorickshaw. During recce, they gathered vital pieces of information like the time Siddique and Zeeshan visited the Kherwadi office and how and when they returned to their Bandra home.

“After gathering vital pieces of information about the targets, Shiva and Kashyap went to Pune and returned to Mumbai with the fake Aadhaar cards for us. Later, Shiva brought two pistols and some bullets to execute the murder plan,” Singh said.

“Shiva and Kashyap would work for Harish Kashyap in Pune before coming to Mumbai. Harish had been providing logistic support to Shiva,” he added. After getting the two weapons, the shooters were given one motorcycle to conduct a recce in the area.

“Now, we started to discuss how to execute the murder plan on Snapchat,” he said.

“According to the plan, now Shiva went to Karjat and brought three brand new handsets from Harish for all three of us. We were directed by Anmol to discard our existing handsets and use these new handsets immediately after the murder plan was executed,” he said.

“One day, Shiva and I went to near Ghatkopar railway station on the bike to get a murder weapon, but none came to meet us. So, Shiva asked me to go back and he returned Kurla home with two pistols and bullets,” he added.

Shubham suggested that the shooters practise firing guns before finally executing the murder plan. So, they did so in a jungle near Khopoli railway station. After firing practice, the shooters would reach Zeeshan’s Kherwadi office and Siddique’s home in Bandra West in an autorickshaw. Later, they would walk around the area carrying weapons in their bag. “During our recces, we learnt Siddique’s car number. We would wait near his residence Maqba Heights in Bandra and Zeeshan’s Kherwadi office,” he added.

Murder night

“We had learned that both father and son were at the Kherwadi office. So, we waited in Kherwadi for Siddique and Zeeshan. There was a massive crowd of revellers on the road as it was Dussehra. We learnt that Zeeshan had left the area in his car after we arrived at the spot.”

Left with no option, the shooters began pumping bullets in the chest of Siddique who was seen walking towards his car parked a few metres away from the office.

2022
Year Gurmel Singh was released from Kaithal jail

"Exciting news! Mid-day is now on WhatsApp Channels Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!