Shiv Kumar Gautam, the main accused in the murder case of Maharashtra politician Baba Siddique, was arrested from Uttar Pradesh's Bahraich on Sunday. Sources said he was trying to flee to Nepal. The arrest was carried out by a joint team from the Mumbai Crime Branch and the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (UP STF).Shivkumar Gautam, who had been on the run for some time, was apprehended while attempting to flee across the border. The arrest comes after months of intense investigation and manhunt for the key suspect in the high-profile murder case.
However, in a surprising turn of events, Gautam's family has denied the allegations. They claim that Shiv is being framed and had no involvement in the crime. "We don’t understand the situation; our brother is being framed in this case. He has no involvement and is innocent," said the family in a statement issued to the press. Shiv Kumar, along with two other accused -- Gurnail Singh, a resident of Haryana and Dhramraj Kashyap of Uttar Pradesh -- shot dead Mr Siddique, 66, outside his politician son Zeeshan Siddique's office in Mumbai on October 12.While Singh and Kashyao were arrested immediately after the attack, Shiv Kumar had managed to flee.Shiv Kumar, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, was caught in a joint operation by the police officials of Uttar Pradesh and Mumbai from the Nanpara area of Bahraich.
During interrogation, he apparently said they were in Mumbai for days conducting recce for the NCP leader and on the night of October 12, "When we got the right time, we killed Baba Siddique". Police sources said Shiv Kumar has also admitted that he is linked to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. The murder, he allegedly said, was carried out on the instructions of Anmol Bishnoi, the brother of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi. Baba Siddique was murdered apparently because of his close relationship with actor Salman Khan. Lawrence Bishnoi's associates have hinted that the grouse against Mr Khan is about the blackbucks he killed 20 years ago. Blackbucks are sacred to the Bishnoi community.