Four friends whose late-night chats on social media raised suspicions played a crucial role in helping Mumbai Police locate Shivkumar Gautam, the main shooter in the killing of NCP leader Baba Siddique, in Uttar Pradesh, officials revealed on Monday.
The Mumbai Crime Branch along with the Uttar Pradesh Police Special Task Force (STF) apprehended Gautam along with Anurag Kashyap, Gyan Prakash Tripathi, Akash Srivastava, and Akhilendra Pratap Singh on Sunday in the Nanpara area, near the Nepal border of Uttar Pradesh.
According to a report by the news agency PTI, the investigation began after the suspicious actions of Gautam’s friends, who were seen buying clothes of various sizes and planning a meetup in a forested area roughly 10 kilometres from Nanpara on motorcycles.
Officials disclosed that the group intended to help Gautam escape to Nepal. The four friends maintained constant communication with Gautam using internet calls made on phones purchased in Lucknow. Their frequent and late-night calls raised red flags and led authorities to increase surveillance.
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Gautam, who allegedly shot Siddique at close range on October 12 in Mumbai’s Bandra area, initially fled to Kurla and took a local train to Thane. He discarded his bag and mobile phone during the journey, the officials added.
He then travelled to Pune and, around 3:30 AM on October 13, boarded a train to Lucknow, making several calls to his handlers using other passengers' phones, officials said.
After Siddique’s Death Main Shooter Hide Out In A Remote Village Near Nepal border
After learning of Siddique’s death through news updates, Gautam headed to his hometown in Bahraich before hiding out in a remote village near the Nepal border, in a settlement of about 10-15 huts, officials noted.
The Crime Branch, utilising human intelligence and local contacts, narrowed their focus to a group of 10-12 close associates of Gautam. Four friends were identified as likely accomplices, and surveillance showed they had been buying clothes for Gautam in preparation for his escape.
The police began tracking their movements. "These four persons used to communicate with each other on the internet late at night," a crime branch official explained.
A few days ago, they bought shirts and trousers of different sizes from a clothing store in Nanpara, the officer added. On Sunday, as the four friends headed on two motorcycles to meet Gautam, police teams, aided by Uttar Pradesh Police, intercepted them on a bridge outside Nanpara.
The group’s capture led officers to Gautam’s hiding place, where he was arrested in the remote village, the official confirmed.
The 66-year-old former Maharashtra minister, Baba Siddique, was shot dead on October 12 by three assailants outside his son MLA Zeeshan Siddique's office building in Bandra East, Mumbai.