20 killed in attack on clandestine cockfight in Mexico
Mexico City (AP): Gunmen burst into a clandestine cockfight and opened fire, killing 20 people and wounding four, prosecutors in Mexico's western state of Michoacan said Monday.
Three women were among the dead after the attack late Sunday near the town of Zinapecuaro.
The attackers apparently planned the attack, and entered in a stolen truck owned by a snack food company, according to prosecutors.
The snack food company truck arrived, and several armed people in camoflauge clothing got out, a prosecutors' statement said. At the same moment, a bus that was outside the building was used as a blockade, apparently to prevent victims from escaping or calling for help, it said.
Investigators found 15 vehicles that apparently belonged to the victims, one of which bore stickers with the logo of a criminal gang. Prosecutors said drug cartels and other criminal gangs had been fighting in the area.
There are indications that the attack involved a confrontation between criminal groups, the federal Public Safety Department said in a statement. It added that a team of federal investigators had been sent to the scene.
Michoacan has been the scene of a longstanding turf battle between local cartels and the Jalisco cartel, from the neighboring state of Jalisco. The fighting has included the use of bomb-dropping drones, landmines and home-made armored cars.
Cock fighting, while illegal in many areas, remains a popular pastime in parts of Mexico, though the fights are usually held clandestinely.
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Baba Siddique murder case: Mumbai cops invoke stringent MCOCA against 26 accused
Mumbai (PTI): The Mumbai Police has invoked the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime (MCOC) Act against 26 accused arrested so far in NCP politician Baba Siddique murder case, officials said on Saturday.
It is important to note that confessions made to the police under MCOCA are admissible as evidence in court. It is also difficult to secure bail under the MCOCA.
Provisions of stringent MCOCA are invoked in the Baba Siddique murder case, a Mumbai Police official said without elaborating.
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.
A total of 26 persons have been arrested so far in the murder case, including the suspected main shooter Shivkumar Gautam, while suspected key conspirators Shubham Lonkar and Zishan Mohammad Akhtar are still on the run.
Jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi's brother Anmol was arrested in the US for his alleged role in the murder of Siddique and firing outside actor Salman Khan’s Mumbai home.
Mumbai Police and Uttar Pradesh STF had earlier this month arrested Shivkumar Gautam from Bahraich district when he was trying to flee to Nepal.
Gautam had told police that Shubham Lonkar works for Lawrence Bishnoi and had facilitated communication through SnapChat between him (Gautam) and Anmol Bishnoi several times.
Gautam claimed he was promised Rs 10 lakh for killing Siddiuque, UP Police had said.
