New Delhi: In another twist to Baba Siddique murder case, Shivkumar Gautam alias Shiva, who is the prime suspect in the killing of the NCP leader, has expressed his fear on Tuesday of being coerced into making a false confession under the Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act (MCOCA) before a court, a Times of India report said.
Shivkumar’s police custody was extended by Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate Vinod Patil until November 23. The co-accused Anurag Kashyap, Gyan Prakash Tripathi, Akash Srivastava, and Akhilendra Pratap Singh were also sent to judicial custody for 14 days.
Shivkumar voiced concerns about the likelihood of MCOCA being slapped against him and declined to provide a confessional statement under the Act. Importantly, confessions made to the police under MCOCA can be admitted as evidence in court.
In a plea, Shivkumar’s lawyer Amit Mishra said, “The accused submits that he’s not willing to give any voluntary confession before police under provisions of MCOCA or any other applicable law. He apprehends coercion, undue influence, or pressure to give confession under Section 18 of MCOCA.”
Two main accused still on the run
Subham Lonkar and Zeeshan Akhtar, two main accused in the murder case, are still wanted even though almost one and half months have passed since the crime was committed. In July, their last location was traced to somewhere near Jama Masjid in Delhi. Police stated that after planning the murder and recruiting shooters in June, Lonkar and Akhtar fled from Pune and Haryana, respectively. They later met in Delhi. Even though they have received help from six states — Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Gujarat and Rajasthan — the Mumbai Crime Branch has failed to capture the two.
On November 16, Akashdeep Karajsingh Gill was nabbed from Punjab’s Fazilka, which is close to Pakistan border. Police claims that he was in direct touch with Anmol Bishnoi and was giving instructions to Sujit Singh alias Babbu and Subham Lonkar about the murder of Siddique.
