JJ Murder, Gulshan Kumar, and Now Baba Siddiqui, Uncovering the UP Connection in Mumbai's Crime Scene

In the 1990s, Mumbai witnessed two high-profile murder cases with unexpected connections to shooters from Uttar Pradesh (UP). The first was the infamous JJ Hospital Shootout, and the second, the assassination of music mogul Gulshan Kumar. Fast forward nearly three decades, and a similar pattern has emerged in the recent high-profile murder of politician Baba Siddiqui, once again highlighting the UP connection in Mumbai's underworld.

The Gulshan Kumar Murder Case

On August 12, 1997, Gulshan Kumar, the owner of T-Series, was shot dead outside a temple in Andheri, Mumbai. The killing was orchestrated by underworld dons Dawood Ibrahim and Anees Ibrahim. Abu Salem, Dawood's close aide, was responsible for the execution. Three shooters, Abdul Rauf Merchant, Abdul Rashid, and Vinod Jagtap, were hired for the job. Two of the weapons used were made in UP’s Azamgarh district, a known hub for illegal arms manufacturing at the time. The Mumbai Police traced the firearms back to Azamgarh, unveiling the first glimpse of UP’s connection to Mumbai's underworld.

JJ Hospital Shootout

The JJ Hospital Shootout on September 12, 1992, further solidified the UP link. Underworld don Chhota Rajan, with the help of UP-based shooters Subhash Thakur and Brijesh Singh, orchestrated the killing of Arun Gawli’s shooter Shailesh Haldankar in the hospital, marking a deadly encounter. This event introduced UP-based shooters to the Mumbai underworld on a larger scale.

 Baba Siddiqui Murder

Most recently, on October 12, 2024, the assassination of NCP leader Baba Siddiqui brought the UP connection to light again. Two of the four shooters involved, Dharmaraj Kashyap and Shivkumar Gautam, hail from Bahraich district in UP. While Kashyap is in police custody, Gautam remains at large. This latest incident underscores the recurring involvement of UP shooters in high-profile Mumbai crimes, despite the decline of the traditional underworld.