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The Mumbai Police Crime Branch has now taken the initiative of investigating the viral video featuring Zeeshan Akhtar, one of the main accused in the killing of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Baba Siddique. In this viral video, Akhtar says he has managed to get asylum in some country outside, with the help of Pakistani gangster Shehzad Bhatti.
Akhtar, the alleged conspirator into the murder of Siddique, has said that Bhatti, whom he referred to as his “elder brother,” helped him in fleeing from India after police launched a manhunt to capture him. For now, this video has raised serious questions among law enforcement agencies, which are working to authenticate it and also try to determine the timing for which it was recorded.
Murder of Baba Siddique and Police Investigation
Baba Siddique was shot and killed on a busy street in Bandra East on October 12 last year. Three shooters were present at the scene, but it was Shiv Kumar Gautam, a henchman of gangster Anmol Bishnoi, who fired the fatal shots. Gautam is associated with Anmol Bishnoi, the brother of incarcerated gangster Lawrence Bishnoi.
Police confirmed that the individual in the video is indeed Zeeshan Akhtar but noted that further verification is required regarding its authenticity. “It seems that someone purposely circulated the video on social media. We are investigating its origin,” said a senior police officer.
Connections Between the Accused
Akhtar and Gurmail Singh, one of the three shooters involved in Siddique’s murder, were previously jail-mates in Jalandhar, Punjab. Before Akhtar was transferred to another facility, he allegedly discussed the assassination plan with Singh, telling him that he would soon have a task for him.
Despite Akhtar’s claims in the video, police believe he is still in India. “We believe Zeeshan is still in India and that someone released that video of him. We are investigating the authenticity of this video,” said a police official.
The video in question was posted on Shehzad Bhatti’s social media accounts, which also contain a separate 19-second video of Bhatti conversing with Lawrence Bishnoi. That video, released in June 2024, also gained traction on social media.
Other Key Conspirators Identified
Apart from Akhtar, who hails from Jalandhar, police have identified Shubham Lonkar, a Pune-based dairy owner, as another central figure in the conspiracy. Both Akhtar and Lonkar are considered close associates of Anmol Bishnoi and were allegedly assigned the task of planning Siddique’s murder in May last year.
Following their orchestration of the plot, including arranging for the shooters and their accommodations in Mumbai, both men vanished from their last-known locations roughly a month before the murder took place. Police last traced their movements to Nainital, Uttarakhand, in September 2024.
Chargesheet Filed in Siddique Murder Case
Meanwhile, on Monday, the Mumbai Crime Branch submitted a comprehensive 4,590-page chargesheet in connection with the Siddique murder case. The document names 26 arrested individuals and lists three wanted suspects—Anmol Bishnoi, Zeeshan Akhtar (alias Mohammed Yasin Akhtar), and Shubham Lonkar.
Investigators have described these three men as the primary conspirators behind the high-profile killing. Law enforcement authorities believe that Anmol Bishnoi, the leader of a powerful organized crime syndicate, planned Siddique’s assassination as part of a strategy to establish his dominance in Mumbai’s criminal underworld.
