Main shooter who escaped from police after shooting waited outside Lilavati Hospital to confirm death- The Week

While Mumbai police were conducting searches extensively for the main shooter in the Baba Siddique’s murder case, Shivkumar Gautham was there outside Lilavati Hospital, waiting there patiently to confirm the veteran Maharashtra politician’s death. Mumbai police arrested Gautham recently from Uttar Pradesh.

The main shooter Shivkumar Gautham, who is currently in police custody, told police that though he escaped from police after killing Baba Siddique, he did not leave Mumbai and waited near Lilavati Hospital to confirm the Nationalist Congress Party (Ajit Pawar) leader’s death. Gautham changed his shirt immediately after the firing and stood among the crowd, awaiting confirmation regarding Siddique’s death. According to police, Gautham left the hospital premises only after he confirmed the politician’s condition was critical.

The veteran Maharashtra leader was gunned down by three shooters allegedly linked to Lawrence Bishnoi gang, on October 12 outside his son Zeeshan’s office during Dussehra celebrations. The shooters used the firecrackers burst as part of the celebrations as a cover and gunned down Siddique. While Mumbai police managed to arrest two of the shooters soon after the incident, Gautam managed to escape from the place.

On Sunday, the Mumbai police along with Uttar Pradesh police’s SpecialTaskForce nabbed Gautam on Sunday while he was plotting to escape to neighbouring Nepal. Police also arrested four others—Anurag Kashyap, Gyan Prakash Tripathi, Akash Srivastava and Akhilendra Pratap Singh—for providing shelter to Gautam. Mumbai police have been granted custody of the accused till November 19. So far 23 persons have been arrested arrested in connection with the case.

The Lawrence Bishnoi gang has allegedly claimed responsibility for the murder. Allegedly, he was killed for his close ties with Bollywood actor Salman Khan. The Bishnoi gang has been issuing death threats against Khan ever since he was convicted in the blackbuck hunting case.