In a dramatic turn in the investigation of Maharashtra politician Baba Siddique’s murder, 20-year-old Shiv Kumar Gautam, the main accused, was arrested in Uttar Pradesh’s Bahraich while attempting to flee to Nepal. Shiv Kumar Gautam, along with his four associates, was apprehended on Sunday, nearly a month after the October 12 killing. Shiv Kumar Gautam and two accomplices, Gurnail Singh from Haryana and Dhramraj Kashyap from Uttar Pradesh, allegedly shot Baba Siddique outside his son Zeeshan Siddique’s office in Mumbai. While Singh and Kashyap were apprehended shortly after the incident, Shiv Kumar Gautam initially evaded capture.
Police sources revealed Shiv Kumar Gautam’s motive was rooted in orders given by Anmol Bishnoi, the brother of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, who reportedly directed Shiv Kumar Gautam to shoot either Baba Siddique or his son, MLA Zeeshan Siddique. Anmol Bishnoi, believed to be in Canada and listed as a “most-wanted” by the National Investigation Agency, allegedly gave Shiv Kumar Gautam a “pep talk,” claiming the killing would serve “God and society.”
After the murder, Shiv Kumar Gautam took careful measures to evade detection. Changing his shirt immediately after the shooting, he mingled with the crowd near the crime scene to avoid arousing suspicion. From there, he took an auto to Kurla, then traveled by train to Thane before heading to Pune, where he disposed of his mobile phone. Shiv Kumar Gautam reportedly stayed in Pune for a week before making his way to Jhansi, Uttar Pradesh, then to Lucknow. While in Lucknow, he acquired a new phone and reconnected with his associates, who provided him with a safehouse in a village near Bahraich.
Shiv Kumar Gautam had initially planned to escape to Madhya Pradesh’s Ujjain and then travel to Vaishno Devi in Jammu before leaving the country. However, police managed to track him down by monitoring the movements of about 45 individuals, including Shiv Kumar Gautam’s family and close contacts. After identifying four individuals who maintained contact with him, authorities set a trap in the Nanpara area of Bahraich, where they arrested Shiv Kumar Gautam and his associates Anurag Kashyap, Gyan Prakash Tripathi, Akash Srivastava, and Akhileshendra Pratap Singh, all of whom were allegedly involved in aiding his escape to Nepal.
Mumbai’s crime branch continues to investigate the case, with officials linking Shiv Kumar Gautam’s orders to the notorious Bishnoi gang. Incriminating evidence, including a photo of Zeeshan Siddique found on one of the accused’s phones, has further deepened suspicions around the Bishnoi network’s involvement in the assassination. This high-profile arrest represents a joint effort by police teams from both Uttar Pradesh and Mumbai, who have been working to close in on Shiv Kumar Gautam since the murder occurred.
