LUCKNOW/MUMBAI: The alleged main shooter of Baba Siddique, Shiv Kumar, alias Shiva, had been in constant communication with his handlers while in hiding. Shiv Kumar, who was arrested from UP on Sunday, is said to have admitted to his involvement in the murder during interrogation.
He disclosed that he and Dharmaraj Kashyap, both hailing from the same village, had worked together in the scrap business in Pune. It was during this time that they met Shubham Lonkar, who was connected to Lawrence Bishnoi’s network, said Shukla.

“Through Snapchat, Shiv Kumar was put in touch with Anmol Bishnoi… To carry out the attack, Shiv Kumar and his accomplices were provided with firearms, cartridges, SIM cards, and mobile phones by Shubham Lonkar and Mohammad Yaseen Akhtar,” said Deputy SP Pramesh Shukla of UP STF.
According to the STF, Shiv Kumar and the other shooters tracked Baba Siddique’s movements in Mumbai for several days. They chose the night of Oct 12 for the execution, knowing that Dussehra festival celebrations would be underway, increasing their chances of making a getaway.
However, despite the chaos, two of the shooters, Dharmaraj Kashyap and Gurmail Singh, were caught at the scene; Shiv Kumar managed to escape.
After fleeing the scene, Shiv Kumar is believed to have discarded his phone and made his way to Pune, then to Jhansi and Lucknow, before finally reaching Bahraich.
Throughout his journey, he continued to communicate with his handlers, including Anurag Kashyap (who is the brother of the other arrested shooter Dharmaraj Kashyap) and others, who arranged for his hideout in Bahraich and planned his eventual escape to Nepal, said police.
When Mumbai crime branch subsequently received inputs on Shiva’s whereabouts, they shared the information with the UP STP and sought help to nab him.
A day after the murder, Lonkar, a Pune resident, who is suspected to be linked with jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, had posted a message on a social media platform claiming responsibility for the attack.
Hours after posting the message, it was deleted. While his brother, Pravin, has been arrested for his role in the conspiracy, Lonkar is still at large. Jalandhar resident, Zeeshan Akhtar, an alleged key conspirator, is also wanted.
The five arrested now include Shiva and his alleged accomplices including Anurag Kashyap, Gyan Prakash Tripathi, Akash Srivastava and Akhileshendra Pratap Singh. They are all residents of Gandara village of Bahraich’s Kaiserganj. They are being brought to Mumbai and will be produced before a court on Monday.
A Mumbai crime branch officer said that a team of six officers and 15 personnel had been searching for the accused for the last 25 days.
The team included API Amol Mali, PSI Swapnil Kale, constables Vikas Chavan and Mahesh Sawant. After the murder, Shiv Kumar managed to evade authorities for weeks.
Intelligence gathered by police teams suggested that Shiva, along with his accomplices, was hiding in Bahraich and planning to escape to Nepal.
“We kept surveillance on 30 to 35 friends and family members of Shiv Kumar alias Shiva and zeroed in on the four associates. On Sunday, when the four associates of Shiva left their village on two bikes, the joint police team intercepted them. From them, police got the information about the place where Shiva was staying. We went there and laid a trap. He was taken into custody when he came to the place he was staying in,” said a Mumbai police officer.
Shiva was also working as a farmer in a nearby farm. A Mumbai police officer said, “Tripathy had sent Rs 2.5 lakh to Harish Kumar, an arrested accused.”