Baba Siddique murder case: Another person held from Pune, 16 arrested so far

One more person was arrested in connection with the Baba Siddique murder case from Pune The accused identified as 23yearold Gaurav Apune will be produced in court todayThis is the 16th arrest by the Crime Branch Officials stated that Apune was involved in the conspiracy attended several meetings and was part of the first batch of shootersApune a resident of Karve Nagar in Pune was arrested after his role in the murder was established He had full knowledge of the intended target and was involved in the in the conspiracy of the attack with the promise of substantial consideration from the absconding accused The absconding accused in the case also provided Apune with weaponhandling training said Deputy Commissioner of Police Crime Branch Datta NalawadeTwo associates of the late NCP leader received threat calls from unknown numbersTwo men who were close to the late NCP leader Baba Siddique said they received threat calls from unknown numbers The alleged harassment began just days after the political heavyweight was assassinated by three shooters linked to jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi in Bandra East on October 12An officer attached to Khar police station said ldquoThe unknown callers apparently belong to Bishnoirsquos gangrdquoOne of the men Iqbal Shaikh an eyewitness in the murder case on October 31 registered an FIR at Khar police station after a caller demanded Rs 5 crore as protection money Another victim Shoaib Khan approached the Nirmal Nagar police who registered a noncognisable NC offenceAccording to the FIR registered under section 308A Extortion of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita BNS 2023 Shaikh received the extortion call from an unknown number and the caller told him ldquoTu paanch khoka ready kar le nahi to tere ko bhi tere boss Baba Siddique ke paas pahucha dengehellipthik hai na Tera case bhi usi crime branch ke pass investigation ke liye jaega jaha tere boss ke case ka investigation chal raha hairdquoSources in the Khar police station told midday that a police constable has been deployed to Shaikhrsquos building where a few suspects were seen clicking photographs a few days ago ldquoThe caller seems to be associated with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang Since itrsquos an extortion case we have handed over the matter to the crime branch for further investigationrdquo said the officer at Khar police station requesting anonymityEarlier incidentMeanwhile Khan said that he received an unknown call from a Pakistanbased number within a week of Siddiquersquos murder ldquoI am a social worker and was working with Baba Siddique to help get the poor admitted to government hospitals On October 18 I received a call from a Pakistanbased number and the caller said he would kill merdquo Khan saidldquoI immediately approached the Nirmal Nagar police station to register an FIR but the police filed an NCrdquo he saidKhan added that the caller had used an image of a police officer for his display picture ldquoAfter I met the officers at Nirmal Nagar police station I was told to make a video call to the same number The unknown caller responded but he blinded the camera lens to conceal his face When he saw a policeman he disconnected the call immediatelyrdquoldquoI am in constant fear My entire family is terrified I have demanded police protection but the cops have not even registered an FIRrdquo he addedldquoShoaib Bihari bol raha kya Malum hai na tera baap Baba Siddique gayahellip ab tu jaegahelliptaiyaari kar lehellipaur tere char bete bhi jaenge Are you Shoaib Bihari Do you know that your father Baba Siddique is no more Now it is your turn so get ready Your four sons will also be killedrdquo reads Khanrsquos complaint letter which he wrote to all the senior officials of Mumbai police chief minister and Maharashtra home minister