Mumbai: Four close friends, whose late-night conversations on social media apps raised suspicions, were critical in helping Mumbai Police locate Shivkumar Gautam, the main shooter in the Baba Siddique case, in Uttar Pradesh, officials confirmed on Monday.

On Sunday, the Mumbai Crime Branch and Uttar Pradesh Police STF arrested Shivkumar Gautam along with Anurag Kashyap, Gyan Prakash Tripathi, Akash Srivastava, and Akhilendra Pratap Singh in Nanpara, Uttar Pradesh, near the Nepal border.

The investigation began after Gautam’s four friends were seen buying clothes in different sizes and planning to meet him on bikes in a remote forest about 10 kilometers from Nanpara.

The police later discovered that they were intending to help Gautam in fleeing the country via the Nepal route, according to officials.

The four men had been regularly communicating with Gautam through internet calls on mobile phones purchased in Lucknow. Their late-night conversations drew the attention of authorities, prompting heightened surveillance.

Gautam, who allegedly shot Siddique at close range on October 12 night in Mumbai’s Bandra area, initially travelled from the crime scene to Kurla. He boarded a local train to Thane.

He dumped his bag and mobile phone during the journey, the officials added.

He travelled onward to Pune. After reaching Pune at around 3:30 AM on October 13, he boarded a train to Lucknow. During his journey, he made several calls to his handlers using the mobile phones of passengers, officials said.

Gautam checked the news where he learned of Siddique’s death. Gautam later travelled to his native Bahraich and onward to Nanpara, where he took refuge in a remote village near the Nepal border.

Gautam was hiding in the hamlet of 10 to 15 hutments, around 10 km from Nanpara, officials said.

The Crime Branch, working with human intelligence and local sources, focused on a group of 10 to 12 individuals closely associated with Gautam.

Among them, four friends stood out as likely collaborators. Surveillance revealed that these men were techno-savvy and had been buying clothes for Gautam in preparation for his escape.

Police started monitoring their activities.

“These four persons used to communicate with each other on the internet late at night,” a crime branch official added.

A few days ago, all of them purchased pairs of shirts and trousers of different sizes from a cloth shop in Nanpara, he said.

On Sunday, as the four friends travelled to meet Gautam on two motorcycles, police teams, with assistance from Uttar Pradesh Police, intercepted them on a bridge on the outskirts of Nanpara.

The group was apprehended, and their capture led police to Gautam’s hideout. He was subsequently arrested in the remote village, the official said.

Former Maharashtra minister Siddique, 66, was shot dead on October 12 by three assailants outside his son MLA Zeeshan Siddique’s office building in Bandra East, Mumbai.

He sustained two bullet injuries on his chest and was rushed to the Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai, where he passed away.

A Mumbai court on Monday remanded in police custody till November 19 Shivkumar Gautam and four others to help investigators probe financial transactions and procurement of firearms.

(with PTI inputs)