In a significant development in the Baba Siddique murder case, the Esplanade Court in Mumbai on Monday remanded Pravin Lonkar, the third accused, to police custody until October 21. Lonkar was produced before the court following a medical checkup earlier in the day.
Pravin Lonkar was arrested by the Mumbai Police Crime Branch from Pune on Sunday in connection with the brutal killing of NCP leader Baba Siddique. Siddique was fatally shot outside his office in Nirmal Nagar, Mumbai. He sustained multiple gunshot wounds and was rushed to Lilavati Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries on Saturday night.
Authorities revealed that Pravin Lonkar (28) is the brother of Shubham Lonkar, another accused implicated in the murder plot. The two brothers are said to have recruited Dharmaraj Kashyap and Shivkumar Gautam to carry out the attack on Siddique.
In another key aspect of the investigation, an ossification test was conducted on Dharmaraj Kashyap to determine his age, confirming that he is not a minor. The ossification test is a medical procedure commonly used to estimate a person’s age by analyzing bone development.
Siddique’s last rites were performed on Sunday with full state honors at Bada Qabrastan in Mumbai.
During police interrogation, the accused reportedly disclosed that Siddique’s son, Zeeshan, was also a target. The shooters had allegedly been contracted to kill both Baba Siddique and Zeeshan. Zeeshan had received threats just days before the attack took place.
(With inputs from ANI)