A shooter affiliated with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang has made sensational claims about the late Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Baba Siddique’s alleged criminal connections. Yogesh alias Raju (26), who was apprehended after an encounter in Uttar Pradesh, accused Siddique of having ties with India’s most-wanted criminal, Dawood Ibrahim, the mastermind behind the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts.
Raju, associated with the Lawrence Bishnoi-Hashim Baba gangs, is currently facing charges for his role in the killing of gym owner Nadir Shah in Delhi’s Greater Kailash area last month, news agency PTI reported. However, he has denied any involvement in Baba Siddique’s murder, which occurred on 12 October in Mumbai.
Raju was arrested following an exchange of gunfire with a joint team comprising the Delhi Police’s Special Cell and the Mathura Police on Thursday morning. During the encounter, he sustained a leg injury and was later treated at the district hospital. A .32-bore pistol, ammunition, and a motorcycle were seized from his possession.
Speaking to reporters at the hospital, Raju claimed, “Baba Siddique was killed because he was not a good man. There were charges against him under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). It is said that he was associated with Dawood. When people get involved with such individuals, something is bound to happen. This is exactly what happened to Siddique”, as quoted by PTI.
Mathura, UP: Yogesh Kumar, a shooter from the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, says, “…I got shot in the leg. I come from a poor background and felt targeted, with cases filed against me. That’s how I ended up there. I am in Asif Baba’s gang, which is also run by Lawrence Bishnoi. That… pic.twitter.com/9aa4qdGF6h
— IANS (@ians_india) October 17, 2024
Mentioning the role of technology in criminal activities, he said, “These days we have mobile phones, the internet, Google, and so on. We can find out a lot about a person through these means.”
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‘We Are Given Direct Targets’: Lawrence Bishnoi Gang Shooter
Regarding his involvement in the Delhi murder case, Raju insisted that he had no direct contact with anyone. “It was only through my friends from Delhi that we communicated,” he explained, as per PTI. He also emphasised the nature of the criminal assignments he received, adding, “We are given direct targets. Anyone who gets in the way and does something wrong will face consequences.”
Raju claimed that his entry into the world of crime was influenced by police pressure. “Police pushed me into this life. I am a poor man and I am being falsely implicated. Cases are being filed against me,” he said, adding that he became involved with the Hashim Baba gang gradually, which is reportedly managed by Lawrence Bishnoi. He further remarked, “The gang is much bigger than you think. There are more members than you can imagine.”
Following his treatment, Raju was escorted back into police custody and transferred to a local jail.
Baba Siddique, aged 66, was a former Maharashtra minister and a prominent leader of the NCP. He was fatally shot on the night of October 12 outside the office of his son, MLA Zeeshan Siddique, in Mumbai’s upscale Bandra locality. The incident has sparked a significant investigation by the Mumbai Police.
In a related development, five more individuals were arrested on Friday for allegedly providing firearms and logistical support to the shooters involved in Siddique’s murder, taking the total number of arrests in the case to nine. A Mumbai police official noted that the arrested suspects were reportedly in contact with conspirator Shubham Lonkar and mastermind Mohammed Zeeshan Akhtar, both of whom are absconding.
According to the police, Akhtar has been previously linked to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang and is believed to be one of the key masterminds behind the planning of Siddique’s killing.
