Who is Zeeshan Akhtar? Baba Siddique murder mastermind reportedly held in Canada

The Mumbai police reportedly said that Zeeshan was detained in Canada on Tuesday.

Zeeshan Akhtar or Mohammad Yasin Akhtar -- the mastermind behind the murder of Baba Siddique, former Maharashtra minister and leader of Ajit Pawar's NCP, was detained in Canada on Tuesday, reports said, citing the Mumbai police.

Siddique was killed on October 12, 2024.

Akhtar stands accused of handling the shooters involved in the murder and is believed to have played a vital role in planning and executing the assassination.

Who is Zeeshan Akhtar?

Akhtar is a native of Jalandhar, Punjab with a known criminal background.

When making arrests for the Jalandhar grenade blasts, cops named Zeeshan as the mastermind, as per PTI.

Zeeshan Akhtar is known to be a close associate of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and Pakistan-based ISI-sponsored gangster Shahzad Bhatti.

Akhtar is believed to have acted as the handler for Dharmaraj Kashyap, Gurmel Baljeet Singh, and Shivkumar Gautam - Siddique's shooters.

Akhtar reportedly became close to the Bishnoi gang when he served time in a Punjab jail where he reportedly met Gurmel Singh, one of the shooters.

Mumbai police had found that Akhtar and another gang member, Shubham Lonkar, was assigned to organise Siddique's killing as early as May 2024.

Cops are now probing how Zeeshan fled the country. In a video that surfaced, Zeeshan claimed that he was in Pakistan. However, cops felt this was a red herring. His reported arrest comes after close coordination with Interpol and the issuance of many Red Corner Notices.

Efforts are reportedly currently on to bring Zeeshan back so he can face trial.