5 accused sought Rs 50 lakh to kill Baba Siddique, but...

The Mumbai police probing the Baba Siddique murder case have found that the five newly-arrested accused had demanded Rs 50 lakh for the killing, but backed out later due to disagreement over payment and also considering the Nationalist Congress Party leader's clout, officials said.

They, however, provided logistical and other support to those involved in shooting the former MLA dead, they said.

The Mumbai police's crime branch on Friday held the five accused for allegedly providing firearms and logistical support to the shooters of Baba Siddique, taking the total number of arrests in the case to nine. Three key persons are on the run.

They were identified as Nitin Gautam Sapre (32), Sambhaji Kisan Pardhi (44), Pradeep Dattu Thombre (37), Chetan Dilip Pardhi and Ram Fulchand Kanoujia (43).

Sapre is from Dombivali, while Pardhi, Thombre and Pardhi (27) are from Ambernath in Thane district. Kanoujia is a resident of Panvel in Raigad, police said.

"During their interrogation, the police found that the module led by Sapre had demanded Rs 50 lakh from the mediator to kill NCP leader Baba Siddique. But that did not work out. So, due to the disagreement over contract, they decided to back out," an official said on Saturday.

Also, Sapre was aware that since Siddique was a high-profile politician, killing him would create a huge problem for his module. Hence, they decided not to go ahead, he said.

"But the accused persons decided to give logistical support to the new shooters and provide other help," he added.

The investigators have found that the module led by Sapre was in contact with conspirator Shubham Lonkar and mastermind Mohammed Zeeshan Akhtar till the firing, the official said.

The police are now investigating whether Shubham and Akhtar brought the proposal of the NCP leader's killing to them through the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, he said.

Police earlier arrested four persons, including Haryana resident Gurmail Baljit Singh (23), Uttar Pradesh native Dharmaraj Rajesh Kashyap (19), both alleged shooters; Harishkumar Balakram Nisad (23), and 'co-conspirator' Shubham Lonkar's brother Pravin Lonkar, who hails from Pune.

Siddique, 66, a former Maharashtra minister, was shot dead on October 12 night outside his MLA son Zeeshan Siddique's office in Mumbai's upscale Bandra.

The main shooter in the case, Shivkumar Gautam, along with Shubham Lonkar and Mohammed Zeeshan Akhtar, is currently on the run.

The police have issued a look-out circular (LOC) against the three accused.