4500-page charge sheet rules out SRA angle, says Salman Khan was main target

The AntiExtortion Cell of the Mumbai Crime Branch on Monday submitted a 4590page detailed charge sheet against 26 arrested individuals and three wanted suspects in the murder case of NCP leader Baba Siddique The charge sheet dismisses the SRA Slum Rehabilitation Authority angle as a possible motive for the murder a claim previously made by Siddiquersquos son former Bandra East MLA ZeeshanAccording to the Crime Branch three motives have emerged in the case1 Siddiquersquos Salman Khan connection Siddiquersquos close association with Salman Khan a prime target of the Bishnoi gang allegedly made him a victim Due to Khanrsquos high security the gang targeted Siddique to send a message to the actorSalman Khan leaving Baba Siddiquersquos residence after paying his respects in Bandra File picsAnurag Ahire2 Gang dominance in Mumbai The Bishnoi gang sought to assert its dominance in the city sending a signal to Bollywood and the business community to comply with their extortion racket3 Revenge for Anuj Thapan The gang allegedly avenged the death of Anuj Thapan who died by suicide while in police custody after being arrested in connection with a shooting targeting Salman Khan The gang believes he was murdered in custody and Salman Khan was allegedly involved To send a warning they targeted Siddique a close associate of the actorThe charge sheet submitted to the special MCOCA court includes 180 witnesses 74 statements recorded under Section 180 of the BNSS and 14 statements recorded under Section 183 of the BNSS Approximately 20 teams worked on the case leading to the seizure of six firearms These includedgtgt A Turkishmade weapon used by the main shooter Shiv Kumar Gautam to kill Baba Siddique on October 12gtgt An Austrianmade Glock pistol and a countrymade pistol recovered from shooters Gurnail Singh and Dharmaraj Kashyapgtgt Three additional pistols were seized from other accused individualsThe investigation also recovered 84 rounds of ammunition six magazines and 35 mobile phonesOriginal target SalmanSalman Khan and Baba Siddique at an Iftaar party in 2022The charge sheet states that the shooters were originally tasked with assassinating Salman Khan When they failed to get close to him they targeted Baba Siddique and his son Zeeshan On October 12 both father and son were at their Bandra East office discussing the Maharashtra Assembly elections Zeeshan parked his car directly in front of the office and went inside while Baba parked his car a few hundred metres away After the meeting Zeeshan left moments before Baba who was then attacked at close range by the shooters Two bullets struck his chest and he succumbed to his injuries at Lilavati HospitalThe charge sheet reveals that the shooters initially planned to target Baba Siddique during Ganesh Visarjan but failed They then stayed in Kurla for a month conducting reconnaissance before the assassination Lawrence Bishnoirsquos brother Anmol Bishnoimdasharrested in Californiamdashhas been identified as the mastermind The investigation uncovered direct conversations between Anmol and the shootersThe Crime Branch stated that jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoirsquos name has not appeared in the ongoing investigation so farKey conspiratorsZeeshan Akhtar and Shubham Lonkar have been named as key conspirators who allegedly hired the shooters on Anmol Bishnoirsquos instructions They reportedly offered the shooters significant monetary rewards foreign trips and flats in exchange for killing Baba Siddique The investigation revealed a Rs 17lakh transaction as part of the conspiracy