Three people who are accused of killing former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique learnt how to use guns by watching videos on YouTube. They rented a place to live in the Kurla area of Mumbai, where they practiced how to load and unload the guns, as reported by the Mumbai Police.

 

Shooters trained together in Kurla

 

The shooters spent about four weeks watching online videos to get better at using guns because they didn't have any open space to practice. Two of the shooters, Gurmail Singh and Dharmaraj Kashyap, have been caught by the police, but the third one, Shivkumar Gautam, is still missing. Another suspect, Harish Kumar Balakram Nisad, was arrested in Uttar Pradesh and brought to Mumbai to be questioned by the police.

During the investigation, the police found out that Shivkumar Gautam was picked as the "main shooter" because he had experience using guns. He had taken part in celebratory firings in his hometown of Bahraich, which helped him learn how to handle firearms. Gautam taught Gurmail Singh and Dharmaraj Kashyap how to use the guns in their rented apartment, where they practiced "dry shooting." This means they pretended to shoot without using any bullets.

 

They use social media for connectivity

 

To stay hidden and avoid getting caught, the shooters talked to each other using social media apps like Instagram and Snapchat. Shubham Lonkar, who is part of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang and said he was responsible for the murder in a Facebook post, told the shooters to use these apps to communicate. They liked using Snapchat because it has a feature that deletes messages after people read them, which helped them keep their plans secret.

Shubham Lonkar, who is the brother of another person who was arrested named Pravin Lonkar, knows how to use social media well. He was arrested in January for breaking gun laws but got out of jail on bail. Right now, the police are looking for both Shubham Lonkar and Shivkumar Gautam, along with a man named Mohammad Zeeshan Akhtar, who is believed to be the main planner of the crime. The police are still investigating to catch everyone involved and bring them to justice.