Mumbai, 14 October: The Mumbai Police arrested the third accused Praveen Lonkar from Pune in the murder case of Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar faction) leader Baba Siddiqui. His brother Shubham Lonkar absconded. Police suspect both of them of plotting the murder of Baba Siddiqui. Mumbai Police is questioning Praveen Lonkar. He will be presented in court today.
According to the police, Lawrence Bishnoi gang has taken responsibility for the murder of Baba Siddiqui in a post made from the account of a person named Shubbu Lonkar on Sunday. Salman Khan and Dawood gang were also mentioned in this post. When Mumbai Police started investigating this case, it was found that this account is in the name of Shubham Lonkar and the post was also written by Shubham. Shubham Lonkar is a native of Akot in Akola district.
Late on Sunday night, the police team reached Shubham Lonkar’s house in Niwari Budruk village of Akot tehsil to arrest Shubham. As soon as the police got wind of the arrival, Shubham fled and his house was found locked. After this, the police traced his brother Praveen Lonkar and arrested him from Pune.
The interrogation of Praveen Lonkar so far revealed that Shubham Lonkar and Praveen Lonkar chose two accused Dharmaraj Kashyap and Shivanand to kill Baba Siddiqui. Lonkar himself gave them shelter in Pune. The investigation also revealed that in February this year, Shubham Lonkar was arrested by the Maharashtra Police from Akola with illegal weapons.
During the investigation at that time, the connection of Shubham Lonkar and Praveen Lonkar with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang came to light. The police suspect that Shubham Lonkar and Praveen Lonkar conspired to kill Baba Siddiqui.
It is noteworthy that after the murder of Baba Siddiqui on Saturday, the police arrested Gurunel Singh and Dharmaraj Kashyap. The court had sent Gurnail Singh to police custody till October 21, while Dharamraj Kashyap had said that he was a minor. After this, the police got Dharamraj Kashyap’s ossification test done and the test showed that he was 23 years old, which the police again presented in the court.
Therefore, the court also sent Dharamraj Kashyap to police custody till October 21. In this case, Shivkumar alias Shiva, Mohammad Zeeshan Akhtar and Shubham Lonkar are absconding accused. Mumbai Police is searching for them.
