Baba Siddique murder: MCOCA court remands 8 accused in judicial custody

A special MCOCA court in Mumbai on Saturday remanded eight accused in the Baba Siddique murder case in judicial custody till December 16 reported the PTIThe Ajit Pawarled NCP leader and former Maharashtra minister was shot dead on October 12 in Nirmal Nagar in Bandra EastMumbai Police has arrested 26 persons in the case so far and the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act MCOCA was invoked against all of them on November 30Eight accused including alleged main shooter Shivkumar Gautam were produced before the special judge for cases under MCOCA A M Patil on Saturday at the end of their police remand according to the PTIThe court remanded them in judicial custody as sought by the probe agency The remaining accused are already in judicial remandAmong those wanted in the case are gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and his brother Anmol BishnoiThe Mumbai Crime Branch has so far arrested 26 accused including alleged main shooter Shivkumar Gautam in connection with the October 12 murder of Baba SiddiqueAll the accused had earlier been sent to judicial custody by a magistrate court But on November 30 the police invoked stringent provisions of the MCOCA against all these accused following which they were produced before the special courtEarlier the police had sought the remand of eight accused including Gautam for further indepth investigation into the matter It was allowed by the special judge till December 7Three suspectsmdashShubham Rameshwar Lonkar Zishan Akhtar and Anmol Bishnoimdashremain at large and are being actively pursued by law enforcementAnmol Bishnoi is the brother of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and is wanted accused in the caseLast month the Mumbai Crime Branch had apprehended Sumit Dinkar Wagh 26 an associate of the primary conspirator Shubham LonkarSumit Dinkar Wagh arrested in Akola is accused of playing a pivotal role in financing the conspiracy under Lonkarrsquos instructionsHe is a graduate of arts and has been involved in illegal bettingThe investigation revealed that Wagh transferred money using a Karnataka Bank account Petlad branch Anand Gujarat Funds were sent to various accused including Nareshkumar brother of the arrested Gurmail Singh Rupesh Mohol and Harishkumar the police had earlier saidWith the shooters conspirators and weapon suppliers already apprehended the Crime Branch has now also been focusing on the financial aspects of the caseBaba Siddique a former Maharashtra minister was shot dead on October 12 by three assailants outside his then MLA son Zeeshan Siddiques office building in Bandra EastThe 66yearold political leader sustained two bullet injuries on his chest and was rushed to the Lilavati hospital in Mumbai where he passed awaywith PTI inputs