A member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang has been arrested from Kolhapur for alleged involvement in the murder of former Maharashtra minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Baba Siddiqui.
A Mumbai Police official gave this information on Thursday. Siddiqui was shot dead in Bandra East of the metropolis on 12 October last year.
The officer said that the arrested accused Amol Gaikwad (39) was involved in two to three meetings, during which the conspiracy to murder was hatched. He said that he was in touch with others involved in the Gaikwad case and he also helped the main accused Shubham Lonkar to escape after the murder.
On the basis of special information, the Mumbai crime branch caught Gaikwad from Kolhapur and brought it here. This is the 27th arrest in the Baba Siddiqui murder case. A special court of Maharashtra organized crime control act (MCOCA) has sent him to police custody till September 8.
The official said Gaikwad’s involvement in the murder of a textile trader in Punjab has come to light, due to which the Punjab police will take him into custody after investigation by the Mumbai Police in the Siddiqui murder case. He said that the textile merchant was allegedly shot dead by members of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.