Daijiworld Media Network – Mumbai
Mumbai, Jun 11: In a major breakthrough in the high-profile murder case of senior NCP leader Baba Siddique, key accused Zeeshan Akhtar has been arrested in Canada, Maharashtra minister Yogesh Kadam confirmed late Wednesday.
The 22-year-old accused was reportedly nabbed in a fake passport case, according to sources quoted by PTI. “Zeeshan, who was involved in the Baba Siddique murder case, has been arrested in Canada. We have initiated the process to bring him back to India. He will be interrogated further upon his return,” Kadam said.
Baba Siddique was gunned down on October 12, 2024, near his son and MLA Zeeshan Siddique’s office in Nirmal Nagar, Bandra East. The assailants, identified as Shivkumar Gautam, Dharmaraj Kashyap, and Gurmail Singh, opened fire around 9:15 pm, with three bullets fatally striking Siddique in the upper body. He succumbed to his injuries at Lilavati Hospital an hour later.
Gautam was allegedly the main shooter. Kashyap and Singh were arrested shortly after the attack, leading to a wider crackdown that resulted in 24 additional arrests.
Police investigations revealed that gangster Anmol Bishnoi, younger brother of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, was the mastermind. He had reportedly contracted Zeeshan Akhtar and another accused, Shubham Lonkar, to execute the killing as a show of strength in Mumbai’s underworld.
Adding a twist to the case, MLA Zeeshan Siddique earlier claimed that powerful builders and political figures with interests in slum rehabilitation (SRA) projects in Bandra could be linked to the murder conspiracy. His statement has been included in the police chargesheet.
With Zeeshan Akhtar now in custody overseas, Indian authorities are pushing for his swift extradition to unravel deeper layers of the conspiracy.