Baba Siddique murder: Main shooter used travellers’ phones, avoided electronic devices

The shooter is produced in court on Monday. Pic/Ashish Raje

The Mumbai Crime Branch, investigating the Baba Siddique murder case, tracked down the shooter, Shivkumar Gautam, using human intelligence and took nearly a month to apprehend him. After the murder, Gautam avoided using mobile phones, moving instead through multiple locations.

He travelled by auto from Bandra East to Kurla, then took a local train to Thane, and continued to Pune, where he boarded a train to Lucknow, passing through Ujjain, Jhansi, and Gwalior. From Lucknow, he took a bus to his hometown, Bahraich, and stayed in Nanpara. Officials noted this area is just 30-35 kilometres from the Nepal border.

‘Tracking movements

Although the Crime Branch knew he had arrived in Bahraich two days after the shooting, tracking him was challenging due to his lack of electronic device usage. The Joint Commissioner of Crime, Lakhmi Gautam, and DCP Datta Nalawade then assigned a special team to gather intelligence on his movements, deploying API Amol Mali and his team to Bahraich.

Shivkumar Gautam, who fired three rounds at Baba Siddique

Working with local police and as a layman in Bahraich, Mali developed his intelligence on Gautam's whereabouts. Once they had concrete details, additional officers were sent to the location, leading to Gautam's arrest, along with four other accused, on Sunday morning in a forested area of Bahraich.

"The team had been tracking and searching for the accused for the past 25 days. After confirming the whereabouts of the accused, a joint operation with the Special Task Force, Uttar Pradesh, was conducted, involving 21 police officers and personnel of the Mumbai Crime Branch," Nalawade said.

According to the Mumbai Crime Branch, while tracking 50 close associates of Gautam in Bahraich, they identified four suspects who were later arrested with him. The team observed that these four suspects were using their mobile phones actively, and one day, they went into Bahraich city to purchase clothing. When Crime Branch officers visited the shop, they found that the clothing sizes matched Gautam's build.

The team then tracked and intercepted the four suspects on a bridge over the river near Nanpara in Bahraich, blocking both sides. After detaining them, the suspects revealed Gautam's exact location. Although Gautam was not at the initial location, locals informed the police of his possible whereabouts. The Crime Branch waited for nearly seven hours, and when Gautam finally arrived, he was caught by surprise. The police have found that Gautam worked in the area as a daily wage worker.

Promised Rs 10 lakh

The investigation further revealed that Gautam was using mobile phones borrowed from random people while travelling to Bahraich, claiming he didn't have one of his own. "He would ask co-passengers or others on the train to lend him their phones and would then contact his associates to discuss his plans," an officer said. Once in Bahraich, Gautam was taken to a nearby forest area and sheltered in a hut, where his accomplices provided him with basic necessities such as food and water.

According to the UP STF, Gautam was planning to escape to Nepal. During interrogation, Gautam revealed that he and Dharmaraj Kashyap, who is also accused of murder and currently in custody, are from the same village. Gautam previously worked as a scrap dealer in Pune, with his shop located close to that of another accused, Shubham Lonkar, who is still at large. Gautam was promised R10 lakh for the murder of Siddique, along with a monthly payment. For the murder, Shubham Lonkar and Yasin Akhtar provided them with weapons, cartridges, SIM cards and mobile phones.

Escape from Mumbai

The SIM cards and mobile phones were given to the three shooters for communication among themselves. For several days, they were tracking Baba Siddique in Mumbai. "Since festivities were in full swing on the day of Siddique's murder, there was a large crowd, and he fled. He threw his phone on the way and went to Pune from Mumbai. From Pune, he reached Bahraich via Jhansi and Lucknow," the UP STF said.

On the way, he kept in touch with his associates and handlers, borrowing a phone from a fellow traveller to speak with Anurag Kashyap, who told him that other accused - Akhilesh, Gyan Prakash, and Akash - had arranged for him to hide in Nepal. This led him to Bahraich, where he planned to escape to Nepal with his associates, who supported the plan.

The other accused arrested with Gautam have been identified as Anurag Kashyap, Omi alias Gyan Prakash Tripathi, Akhilesh Srivastava, and Akhilendra Pratap Singh, all taken into custody in Bahraich. These arrests bring the total number detained in connection with the case to 23. The accused were presented in court and remanded to police custody until November 19. According to the Crime Branch, the investigation also revealed that before the murder, Omi provided Rs 1.5 lakh to the shooters.