NCP leader Baba Siddique was gunned down outside his son’s Bandra office in 2024
Mumbai: A special court on Wednesday rejected the bail plea of Pune resident Aditya Gulankar, arrested in the 2024 murder of NCP leader and former state minister Baba Siddique, saying absence from the crime scene did not exclude an alleged facilitator from a conspiracy. Gulankar, a resident of Karvenagar in Pune, has been in custody since Nov 7, 2024.
I am also unable to record that the statutory requirement regarding his not being likely to commit any offence while on bail is satisfied,” the judge said. The prosecution said several accused were associated with the syndicate and that the murder was the result of a conspiracy in which different people were assigned different roles. The statement refers to the pistol and rounds being handed over to the present applicant for safe custody and also refers to subsequent movement of the ammunition,” the judge said. The court further said the statements relied on by the prosecution were not merely about acquaintance between Gulankar and the other accused. “They attribute to the applicant a specific role in relation to firearms and ammunition and associate him with activities allegedly undertaken in furtherance of the conspiracy,” the order said.
Special judge S R Navander held that the material placed by the prosecution showed a prima facie link between Gulankar and the alleged organised crime syndicate involved in the conspiracy. “Having regard to the totality of the material, I am unable to record that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the applicant is not guilty of the offences alleged against him under the MCOCA. During the investigation, police alleged that the killing was connected to an organised crime syndicate led by jailed gangster Anmol Bishnoi. The alleged role attributed to Gulankar was that of a member who participated in the conspiracy, dealt with firearms and ammunition, and facilitated the activities of those who were to carry out the attack on Siddique. The prosecution relied on confessional statements of co-accused Rupesh Mohal, Rafik Shaikh and Shivkumar alias Shiva Gautam. The court noted that the prosecution material referred to a pistol and rounds allegedly being handed over to Gulankar for safe custody, as well as the later movement of ammunition. The prosecution also relied on material relating to alleged test firing of firearms supplied to the accused persons. “The confessional statement…particularly relied upon by the prosecution in relation to the movement and custody of the firearm and ammunition.