The Mumbai police are verifying a social media post, attributed to a purported member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, owning up to the murder of former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique.
The crime branch is also probing various angles, including a possible contract killing, business or political rivalry or threat over a slum rehabilitation project, officials said on Sunday.
NCP leader Siddique, 66, was shot at in Bandra prima facie by three assailants on Saturday night.
He was declared dead in hospital.
The police have recovered two pistols and 28 live cartridges from the two accused arrested so far.
"The police have set up 15 teams which are fanned out of Maharashtra and the investigation is on to identify who provided logistical support to the shooters. Two pistols and 28 live rounds were recovered from the accused," said deputy commissioner of police (crime branch) Datta Nalawade.
Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said police have found some leads in connection with the killing of Siddique and different angles are being probed.
The murder of the NCP leader, who represented Bandra (West) seat three times as Congress MLA, is suspected to be a pre-planned act, a police official said.
The police have come across a viral post on social media in the name of an alleged member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang claiming responsibility for Baba Siddique's murder.
"We have seen the viral social media post, we are verifying its authenticity," the official said.
Notably, some Bishnoi gang members had been held in connection with the firing outside Bollywood superstar Salman Khan's residence in Mumbai in April this year.
Siddique, a prominent Muslim leader from Mumbai, was also known to be close to several Bollywood stars, including Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and Sanjay Dutt.
A popular figure in Bollywood circles who earned praise for supplying life-saving medicines to patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, Siddique was waylaid by three men at Kher Nagar in Bandra area just outside his MLA son Zeeshan Siddique's office and shot at on Saturday night.
He was taken to the Lilavati Hospital where he was declared dead.
The police have arrested two of the alleged assailants, identified as Haryana resident Gurmail Baljit Singh (23) and an Uttar Pradesh native, while another accused is on the run and efforts are on to trace him, as per officials.
The police told the court they wanted to probe if the murder was a fallout of a political rivalry since Maharashtra assembly polls are around the corner.
The police also said 28 live bullets were recovered from the accused and custodial interrogation was needed to find out details as well as to prevent the occurrence of any further crime.
Ten teams have been formed to investigate the case. Two persons are wanted in the investigation, the police said.
The court remanded Singh in police custody till October 21, while a bone ossification test was ordered on the other accused to determine his age after he claimed to be a minor.
According to the police, the duo had stayed in Mumbai and Pune for a few days before the firing incident underlining the need to find out who was funding them.
Meanwhile, Nalawade said one police constable was guarding Siddique when he was fatally shot the day before.
He clarified that Siddique was provided a non-categorised security and was allotted three police constables.
"These constables work in three shifts. At the time of the incident (on Saturday night), one policeman was accompanying Siddique," Nalawade told a press conference.
Speaking on the course of the investigation, the DCP said 15 teams have been set up which are working out of Maharashtra. We are also taking help from the local police to ascertain who provided logistical support to the accused shooters.
The crime branch is trying to identify the location where the assailants had stayed after arriving in Mumbai and who helped them
.
