Baba Siddique wasn't good man, had links with Dawood: Arrested shooter of Lawrence Bishnoi gang

Mathura: NCP leader Baba Siddique, who was killed in Mumbai recently, was not a good man and had connections with India's most-wanted criminal Dawood Ibrahim, a shooter of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang has claimed after he was arrested here in Uttar Pradesh.

Yogesh alias Raju (26) is associated with the Lawrence Bishnoi-Hashim Baba gangs. He has been arrested in connection with last month's killing of gym owner Nadir Shah in Delhi's Greater Kailash area. He is not linked with Siddique's killing on October 12.

Raju was arrested after he suffered injuries in an encounter with a joint team of the Delhi Police's Special Cell and the Mathura Police on Thursday morning. Police seized a .32-bore pistol, ammunition and a motorcycle from his possession.

After being shot in the leg, Raju was taken to the district hospital. He spoke about Siddique while talking to reporters at the hospital on Thursday.

"Baba Siddique was killed because he was not a good man. There were charges against him under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). It is said that he was associated with Dawood, the man behind the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts.

"When people get involved with such individuals, something is bound to happen. This is exactly what happened to Siddique," Raju claimed.

Talking about criminals gathering information before committing a crime, he said, "These days we have mobile phones, the internet, Google and so on. We can find out a lot about a person through these means." Regarding the murder case in Delhi, Raju claimed that he had no direct contact with anyone. "It was only through my friends from Delhi that we communicated," he said.

"We are given direct targets. Anyone who gets in the way and does something wrong will face consequences," he added.

Reflecting on his entry into the criminal world, Raju said, "Police pushed me into this life. I am a poor man and I am being falsely implicated. Cases are being filed against me." On joining criminal gangs, he said, "I gradually got involved. I am part of the Hashim Baba gang, which is also managed by Lawrence Bishnoi." "The gang is much bigger than you think. There are more members than you can imagine," he added.

After receiving treatment for his injuries, police officers escorted Raju to a vehicle to take him to jail.

Baba Siddique (66), a former Maharashtra minister, was shot dead in the night of October 12 outside his MLA son Zeeshan Siddique's office in Mumbai's upscale Bandra area.

Five more persons were held on Friday for allegedly providing firearms and logistical support to the shooters in the Baba Siddique murder case, a Mumbai police official said, taking the total number of arrests in the sensational case to nine.

Prima facie, the five arrested accused were in touch with conspirator Shubham Lonkar and mastermind Mohammed Zeeshan Akhtar, both absconding, the official said. According to police, Akhtar's links were earlier established with the Lawrence Bishnoi gang and he is allegedly one of the masterminds of Siddique's killing.