A photo of Congress MLA and slain NCP leader Baba Siddique's son, Zeeshan was recovered from the phone of one of the accused arrested in connection with the murder of his father.
The photo was shared with the accused by their handler through Snapchat, according to an NDTV report quoting sources. The investigators said that the platform was used by the shooters and conspirators to communicate.
The messages were deleted on instruction from their handler, allegedly a member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.
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Baba Siddique was shot dead outside Zeeshan's office in Mumbai's Bandra area. Nine people have been arrested in connection with the case so far including two of the three shooters.
Five of them - Nitin Gautam Sapre (32), Sambhaji Kisan Pardhi (44), Pradeep Dattu Thombre (37), Chetan Dilip Pardhi and Ram Fulchand Kanoujia (43) were arrested on Friday for allegedly providing firearms and logistical support to the shooters. Three accused, including one of the shooters, are still on the run, police said.
The five arrested accused had demanded Rs 50 lakh for the killing, but backed out later due to disagreement over payment and also considering the NCP leader's clout, officials said, as per a PTI report.
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However, they provided logistical and other support to those involved in shooting the former Maharashtra minister.
During the investigation, Mumbai Crime Branch came to know that the pistol with which Baba Siddiqui was murdered was brought from Rajasthan to Mumbai.
After this information, a team from Crime Branch is in Rajasthan to find out from where such advanced weapons came to the state.
Sources have also claimed that many times such weapons are brought from Pakistan across the border and the crime branch is finding the source of the weapons.