Siddique murder: Mumbai cops search in MP for 3rd shooter who flaunted 'gangster' status
Mumbai (PTI): Police have scoured places of worship in Madhya Pradesh's Ujjain and Khandwa in their hunt for the third shooter wanted in connection with the killing of NCP leader Baba Siddique.
Six rounds were fired on Baba Siddique, two of which hit the former Maharashtra minister on the chest, outside his MLA son Zeeshan Siddique's office in Mumbai's Nirmal Nagar between 9.15 pm and 9.30 pm on Saturday.
Police have so far arrested three persons - Haryana resident Gurmail Baljit Singh (23), Uttar Pradesh native Dharmaraj Rajesh Kashyap (19), both alleged shooters, and "co-conspirator" Pravin Lonkar from Pune.
Another suspected shooter Shivkumar Gautam, who hails from Bahraich in UP and is on the run, took to posting online content in recent months, flaunting his "gangster" status.
"Yaar tera gangster hai jaani (your friend is a gangster)", Gautam captioned his photo post on his Instagram account on July 24. The photo showed him on a motorcycle as a Haryanvi song played in the background.
Suspected "handler" Mohammad Yasin Akhtar is also wanted in the case.
The Mumbai police's search for Gautam continued for the second day on Monday in Madhya Pradesh with joint teams focusing on places of worship in Ujjain and Khandwa districts, officials said.
A senior police official in MP's Khandwa district on Monday said the shooters arrested by Mumbai police have told their interrogators that they had visited some places of worship.
There was a possibility that the accused, while on the run, may visit these places again, he said.
Asked about these two districts having 'jyotirlingas' and whether the accused may be a devotee, the official said he would not offer a comment.
Khandwa shares a border with Maharashtra, the official noted, adding that "we have received no inputs about his whereabouts".
Ujjain and Khandwa are famous for the Mahakal and Omkareshwar temples which attract thousands of people every day.
A top Ujjain police official on Monday evening said the team from Mumbai was still in the district. They have not been able to find any leads so far, he added.
A Mumbai police team reached MP on Sunday, a day after Siddique was shot dead.
Police were also verifying a social media post, attributed to a purported member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, owning up to the murder of Siddique.
The crime branch was probing various angles, including a possible contract killing, business or political rivalry or threat over a slum rehabilitation project, officials said.
The Mumbai police have set up 15 teams which fanned out of Maharashtra in search of individuals linked to the high-profile murder.
Suspected shooter Gautam hails from Gandara village in Bahraich district, where locals and police said he had no criminal history. They said he had gone to work at a scrap shop in Maharashtra's Pune.
An Instagram post by him on July 8 was captioned "Sharif baap hai # (expletives) hum nahin".
On May 26, he posted a brief video of a city skyline along with background music from "KGF", a film about a mercenary, with its dialogue "powerful people make places powerful".
The third accused in the case - Pravin Lonkar - was produced in a Mumbai court which remanded him in police custody till October 21. He is accused of "enlisting" two of the three alleged shooters who opened fire at Siddique.
As per the police, Pravin Lonkar's brother Shubham Lonkar, who is yet to be apprehended, is allegedly associated with jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi.
The prosecution claimed Shubham Lonkar and other wanted accused had conspired the shooting and supplied arms to the gunmen who attacked the 66-year-old politician.
Pravin Lonkar has to be taken to Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Bihar for further probe and hence his custody was required, police told court.
Meanwhile, the Punjab police said Yasin Akhtar (21), one of the suspects in the killing of Siddique and a resident of Shankar village in Jalandhar district, was facing nine heinous criminal cases, including for murder and attempt to murder.
Akhtar was arrested in a criminal case in June 2022 and has not visited his village after he was released in June 2024, police said.
Akhtar is suspected to have links with gangster Vikram Brar.
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Supreme Court rejects plea for reverting to ballots in elections
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition seeking to revert to ballot paper voting in elections in the country.
"What happens is, when you win the election, EVMs (electronic voting machine) are not tampered. When you lose the election, EVMs are tampered (with)," remarked a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and P B Varale.
Apart from ballot paper voting, the plea sought several directions including a directive to the Election Commission to disqualify candidates for a minimum of five years if found guilty of distributing money, liquor or other material inducement to the voters during polls.
When petitioner-in-person K A Paul said he filed the PIL, the bench said, "You have interesting PILs. How do you get these brilliant ideas?".
The petitioner said he is the president of an organisation which has rescued over three lakh orphans and 40 lakh widows.
"Why are you getting into this political arena? Your area of work is very different," the bench retorted.
After Paul revealed he had been to over 150 countries, the bench asked him whether each of the nations had ballot paper voting or used electronic voting.
The petitioner said foreign countries had adopted ballot paper voting and India should follow suit.
"Why you don't want to be different from the rest of the world?" asked the bench.
There was corruption and this year (2024) in June, the Election Commission announced they had seized Rs 9,000 crore, Paul responded.
"But how does that make your relief which you are claiming here relevant?" asked the bench, adding "if you shift back to physical ballot, will there be no corruption?".
Paul claimed CEO and co-founder of Tesla, Elon Musk, stated that EVMs could be tampered with and added TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, the current chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, and former state chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy had claimed EVMs could be tampered with.
"When Chandrababu Naidu lost, he said EVMs can be tampered with. Now this time, Jagan Mohan Reddy lost, he said EVMs can be tampered with," noted the bench.
When the petitioner said everybody knew money was distributed in elections, the bench remarked, "We never received any money for any elections."
The petitioner said another prayer in his plea was the formulation of a comprehensive framework to regulate the use of money and liquor during election campaigns and ensuring such practices were prohibited and punishable under the law.
The plea further sought a direction to mandate an extensive voter education campaign to raise awareness and importance of informed decision making.
"Today, 32 per cent educated people are not casting their votes. What a tragedy. If democracy will be dying like this and we will not be able to do anything then what will happen in the years to come in future," the petitioner said.
