The three gunmen involved in the killing of Nationalist Congress Party leader Baba Siddique in Mumbai practiced firing near a waterfall in adjoining Raigad district before executing the murder, police officials said on Tuesday citing their investigation.
The total number of arrests in the sensational case now stands at nine, while three key persons are on the run.
A 68-year-old Indian-origin businessman named Darshan Singh Sahsi was killed in Canada's Abbotsford on Monday morning, reported the Vancouver Sun.
A 9 mm pistol along with 10 live cartridges, a 30 mm pistol with nine live cartridges, three police uniforms of Punjab Police and two mobile handsets along with a dongle and SIM card have been seized from their possession, police said.
The accused were also allegedly involved in the recent murder of another person in Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior.
When they did not get any reply from their handlers, they made their own plan and hired a taxi for Didwana and further took a bus, a train and another taxi to move to Hisar, then Manali and finally reach Chandigarh, the official added.
Narain Singh Chaura, a former Khalistani terrorist, attempted to kill Shiromani Akali Dal leader Sukhbir Singh Badal at the Golden Temple in Amritsar. Chaura, who had been visiting the temple for two days, opened fire at Badal from close range but missed as he was overpowered by plainclothes policemen. The police have seized a 9 mm pistol from Chaura and are investigating whether any organization was behind the incident or if it was carried out to "gain sympathy".
The police claim businessman Ashok Sao paid Umesh Yadav Rs 400,000 to kill Gopal Khemka last Friday.
According to the police, a social media user shared a post on Facebook on the arrest of notorious gangster Amrish Rana.
Twenty-three-year-old Singh's family said they disowned him 11 years ago and have called for exemplary punishment for his actions.
The Mumbai police's crime branch, during the interrogation of the duo, found Pal and Gupta were given the shooting task by Anmol Bishnoi, the younger brother of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, but they had no idea they had to fire at Khan's residence till the delivery of arms, said the official.
Shahrukh Pathan, a gangster with a history of crimes including murder and jail break, was killed in an encounter with the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) in Muzaffarnagar. He was wanted in multiple cases and was a close aide of slain mafia Sanjeev Jiva.
The Charleston police identified the gunman as Dylann Roof of Lexington, South Carolina. They arrested him from neighbouring North Carolina.
Khan's statement and the contents of the FIR at this stage indicate "the shots were fired in the direction of his place of use in his house", the court said in its order.
Bihar Police claim to have solved the Gopal Khemka murder case, citing a land deal gone wrong as the motive. Suspects have been arrested and the murder weapon recovered.
"You will create history by doing this job and your name will be there in all newspapers and other media," it said, citing their conversation.
The accused, Vickykumar Gupta, stated that Lawrence Bishnoi has been wrongly named in the case and that he had no role to play in the shooting as alleged by the Mumbai police.
Former India shooting coach Sunny Thomas, who guided the Indian marksmen from 1993 to 2012 and witnessed multiple Olympic medals, died on Wednesday after suffering a cardiac arrest.
A senior Gujarat police officer has said that Gupta and Pal were hired by the gang of incarcerated gangster Lawrence Bishnoi to open fire at Khan's house.
Two motorcycle-borne persons opened fire outside Khan's residence at the Galaxy Apartment in Mumbai's Bandra area on April 14 and fled from the spot.
The sources claimed that one of those arrested is believed to be Arsh Dalla, who is associated with the banned Khalistan Tiger Force and ran terror modules on behalf of Hardeep Singh Nijjar, a designated terrorist who was killed in June last year.
The police said the four were in touch with jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, and his younger brother Anmol Bishnoi and had recced the farmhouse and places where Salman Khan "worked" at the behest of the Bishnoi brothers.
Delhi police sources on Sunday said a team of the crime branch in a joint operation with the Rajasthan police nabbed the duo from Chandigarh's Sector 22.
Mumbai police had arrested Gurmail Baljit Singh (23), a resident of Haryana and Dharmaraj Rajesh Kashyap (19), from Uttar Pradesh, whereas there one aide, who was at the spot during the firing, fled from the spot.
An aide of the sixth shooter arrested in the Sidhu Moosewala murder case had conducted reconnaissance in Mumbai to draw up a strategy to kill actor Salman Khan at the behest of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, Punjab Police chief Gaurav Yadav said on Sunday.
Davinder alias Kala was nabbed on Sunday evening from Haryana's Fatehabad.
A terror operative who was the main shooter in the grenade attack on the Punjab police intelligence headquarters in Mohali last year has been arrested from Uttar Pradesh, an official of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) said on Wednesday.
The officer said that four more people were detained and questioned in connection with the case but the main shooter is still on the run.
He is allegedly a member of the Lawrence Bishnoi and Goldie Brar gangs, the official said.
Efforts are being made to nab the two criminals who shot at Sukhchain Singh, who recently returned from the US, and are on the run, they said.
Three policemen have been suspended for alleged negligence in duty, taking cognisance of videos in which a sharpshooter of Lawrence Bishnoi gang interacts with reporters while in police custody and comments on Nationalist Congress Party leader Baba Siddique's killing, officials said on Saturday.
The accused say a close aide of former RJD MP Shahabuddin gave them a supari to kill Ranjan.
Four pistols, 28 live cartridges, two vehicles and seven police uniforms were seized from their possession, they said, adding one of the vehicles recovered was reportedly stolen from Delhi.
The Mumbai police probing the Baba Siddique murder case have found that the five newly-arrested accused had demanded Rs 50 lakh for the killing, but backed out later due to disagreement over payment and also considering the Nationalist Congress Party leader's clout, officials said.
Punjab Police have arrested two key operatives of the banned organization Babbar Khalsa International (BKI) who had direct links to Pakistan-based terrorist Harwinder Singh Rinda and US-based gangster Happy Passian. The accused, Jagdish Singh alias Jagga and Shubhdeep Singh Aulakh alias Shubh, were instructed to carry out targeted killings in Punjab as part of a larger coordinated terror operation. Jagdish is a key shooter involved in a murder case in Maharashtra two weeks ago. Both accused were arrested from Mohali and a case has been registered under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Arms Act at SSOC police station, Mohali.
The main shooter, identified as Ramjan Khan alias Raj Hooda, was injured in his leg in the shoot-out, said Promod Ban, head of the anti-gangster task force of the Punjab police.
The conspiracy to kill Nationalist Congress Party leader and former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique was hatched in Pune and shooters were provided with a photo and a flex banner for the target identification, police said on Monday.
Bishnoi is alleged to be the kingpin of a global syndicate involved in smuggling of fire arms and wildlife.
A Mumbai court on Monday remanded the third person arrested for the killing of Nationalist Congress Party leader and former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique to police custody till October 21.
In a breakthrough, Mumbai Police and Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) on Sunday arrested wanted shooter Shivkumar in Nationalist Congress Party politician Baba Siddique murder case from the northern state along with four others, an official said.
