Main accused in Baba Siddique murder waited 30 minutes at hospital to confirm death: Report

Following the shooting, Gautam initially fled from the crime scene to Kurla, boarded a local train to Thane, and eventually made his way to Pune. He stayed in Pune for nearly a week, discarding his mobile phone to avoid detection.

In a major breakthrough, police revealed that Shiv Kumar Gautam, the main suspect in the murder of former NCP leader and ex-minister Baba Siddique, reportedly confessed to waiting outside Mumbai's Lilavati Hospital to confirm if his attack had been fatal. Disguised in a changed shirt, Gautam mingled with the crowd outside the hospital for around 30 minutes before leaving, learning that Siddique was in critical condition.

On Onctober 12, Baba Siddique was fatally shot in Mumbai's Bandra area. He sustained two gunshot wounds to the chest and succumbed to his injuries despite being swiftly shifted to the hospital. According to Gautam's statement, he was initially supposed to meet his accomplices, Dharmaraj Kashyap and Gurmail Singh, at Ujjain railway station, where a member of the Bishnoi gang was arranged to guide them to Vaishno Devi. However, this escape plan faltered when Kashyap and Singh were arrested by the police.

The investigation led officials to four of Gautam's gang meners whose late-night phone activity raised suspicions. Their purchase of clothing in multiple sizes and their intention to meet Gautam in a forested area allowed Mumbai police to trace the suspect's movements. Gautam was ultimately captured with the assistance of the Mumbai Crime Branch and the Uttar Pradesh Police Special Task Force (STF) near the Nepal border, along with four associates: Anurag Kashyap, Gyan Prakash Tripathi, Akash Srivastava, and Akhilendra Pratap Singh.

Following the shooting, Gautam initially fled from the crime scene to Kurla, boarded a local train to Thane, and eventually made his way to Pune. He stayed in Pune for nearly a week, discarding his mobile phone to avoid detection. From there, he travelled to Uttar Pradesh, stopping in Jhansi and Lucknow before planning to cross into Nepal.