Baba Siddique murder case: Main shooter Shivkumar, four others sent to police custody till Nov 19
Mumbai, Nov 11: A court here on Monday remanded in police custody till November 19 alleged main shooter Shivkumar Gautam and four others arrested in NCP politician Baba Siddique's murder case.
The UP special task force and the Mumbai Crime Branch on Sunday arrested alleged shooter Shivkumar (20) and four others from Nanpara in Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich district.
The four other accused, Anurag Kashyap, Gyan Prakash Tripathi, Akash Srivastava and Akhilendra Pratap Singh, were arrested for sheltering Shivkumar and helping him flee to Nepal.
The crime branch produced the accused before additional chief judicial magistrate Vinod Patil.
Seeking their remand, police told court it wanted to probe the financial aspects of the case as well as how the shooter procured arms used in the crime.
Accused Anurag Kashyap provided Shivkumar Rs 2 lakh and there was need to probe the source of this money, police told court.
Shivkumar was in touch with wanted accused Shubham Lonkar and, therefore, his custody was needed to know where the latter was, police said.
Advocate Amit Mishra, appearing for the accused, said Shivkumar was ready to cooperate in the investigation and he could be remanded in police custody.
However, Mishra said, the other four should be remanded for a minimum period as no specific role has been assigned to them in the crime.
They are just accused of providing Shivkumar shelter and helping in his attempt to flee, Mishra argued in court.
After hearing both sides, the court remanded five accused in police custody till November 19.
Former Maharashtra minister Siddique, 66, was shot dead on October 12 by three assailants outside his son MLA Zeeshan Siddique's office building in Bandra East, Mumbai. He sustained two bullet injuries on his chest and was rushed to the Lilavati hospital in Mumbai, where he passed away.
Police on Sunday said Shivkumar Gautam was a resident of Gandara village in Kaiserganj police station area of Bahraich district.
He had gone to Maharashtra to work as a labourer a few years ago, and in April this year, he had called his neighbour accused Dharmaraj Kashyap to work with him.
Shivkumar's father, Balkrishna, is a mason and works as a daily wager.
According to UP STF, arrested accused Shiv Kumar during his interrogation told them he and Dharamraj Kashyap are from the same village.
"I used to work in a scrap (shop) in Pune. My scrap shop and Shubham Lonkar's (shop) were next to each other," Shiv Kumar had told the police, the UP STF had said in a statement on Sunday.
According to STF, Shivkumar told them Shubham Lonkar works for Lawrence Bishnoi and that he (Lonkar) had made him (Shivkumar) talk to Lawrence Bishnoi's brother Anmol Bishnoi several times through Snap Chat.
Shivkumar has said he was to get Rs 10 lakh after the murder of Siddique as well as "something or the other" every month, the STF informed.
Police have so far arrested 23 accused in connection with the murder.
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Ind vs Aus 1st test day 2: IND 172/0 at stumps, lead by 218 runs in Perth
Perth, Nov 23: Yashasvi Jaiswal combined game awareness with perfect shot selection while KL Rahul remained technically unflappable in an unbroken opening stand of 172 as India looked set to bat Australia out of the match with an overall lead of 218 runs on the second day of the opening Test here.
After skipper Jasprit Bumrah's game-changing 11th five-wicket haul decimated Australia for 104, young Jaiswal (90 batting, 193 balls) and seasoned Rahul (62 batting, 154 balls) decided to grind it out with some old fashioned Test match batting by waiting for the loose deliveries and respecting good fast bowling.
The Indians showed their compact defense by scoring 88 runs in 31 overs during the post-tea session as Jaiswal inched towards a coveted ton on his maiden outing on Australian soil.
With enough time at their disposal and signs of cracks appearing on the surface, this is going to be India's Test match to lose.
The way Rahul wore down the Australian attack was a sight to behold. There was no chatter from the slip cordon and at one point, the stitches of the Kookaburra came out.
The live grass died by the second afternoon and the seam movement also went out of equation making batting easier.
But no one can take away any credit from the two who were hardly troubled except for a mix-up that could have led to Rahul's run-out.
Jaiswal also showed that he had learnt his lessons from the first innings and curbed his urge to drive on the up initially, which was the best part about his batting. Each of his seven fours and two sixes were well-executed shots.
Once he had defended enough deliveries, the Australian pacers didn't have any option but to try either short or full length which he utilised well.
The whip over mid-wicket to hit Starc for one-bounce four and then induce a grin from the pacer by telling him "you are slow", spoke volumes about how fearless the current generation of Indian cricketers is.
In the final session, he flicked him for good measure for a maximum.
Rahul's back-drive off Pat Cummins can easily be called the shot of the match but it was heartening to see Jaiswal put in a big stride forward while driving Mitchell Starc through covers apart from getting under the bounce and playing the ramp shot.
In case of Rahul, he kept a very loose bottom-hand and that helped with the deliveries, even the ones that took the thickish edge only to fall way in front of the slip cordon.
There was a spell of play in the post-tea session when Indians were kept quiet by Nathan Lyon but neither Jaiswal nor Rahul ran out of patience. Jaiswal's half-century came off 123 balls, his slowest in 15 Tests and spoke volumes about his adaptability.
For Rahul, it was about forgetting the unfortunate dismissal on Friday and concentrate, which he did splendidly.
Any target above 300 would be very difficult to chase on this track and Washington Sundar can come into play if those cracks open up, not to forget the three quicks who can use the variable bounce to good effect.
In the morning, India captain Bumrah deservedly got his 11th five-wicket haul while debutant Harshit Rana bowled a fiery opening spell to dismiss the hosts for 104 at the stroke of lunch despite a stiff last-wicket resistance from Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood.
Starc (26 off 113 balls) shielded Hazlewood (7 not out off 31 balls) admirably during their 25-run last-wicket stand that lasted 18 overs.
The day began with Bumrah (5/30 in 18 overs) getting one to rear up from back of the length and Carey's edge carried at a good height to Rishabh Pant behind stumps.
The skipper's celebration was understated as he purposefully strode back to his bowling mark even before Nathan Lyon had arrived. At the other end, the burly Harshit Rana (3/48 in 15.2 overs) carried on from where he had left off on the opening day.
The rookie speedster used more short balls, and one such well-directed delivery accounted for Lyon, who was pouched at gully by KL Rahul.
