Brother of NCP leader’s killer arrested in Abohar businessman murder case

In the murder case of Wear Well Emporium co-owner Sanjay Verma, the Punjab Police today brought a gangster’s brother from Mumbai jail on a production warrant and arrested him. The suspect, identified as Pravin Rameshwar Lonkar, was presented in court and the police obtained a three-day remand for interrogation.

Yesterday, AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal, Punjab CM Bhagwant Singh Mann, and Delhi’s former Deputy CM Manish Sisodia visited Verma’s relatives and assured them that all the accused in the murder case would be arrested soon.

Sanjay Verma was shot dead by two armed youths outside his showroom around 10.15 am on July 7. The shooters were waiting for him just opposite the showroom in Bhagat Singh Chowk and fled within a few minutes using a bike that was abandoned near the Sitto Gunno road to escape in a car.

Shortly after the killing, a Facebook post allegedly from gangster Aarzoo Bishnoi, an associate of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi and a native of Rajanwali village, claimed responsibility. The message named Goldy Dhillon, Aarzoo Bishnoi, and Shubham Lonkar from Maharashtra.

The Mumbai Police Crime branch had arrested Pravin Lonkar from Pune on October 14, 2024, in connection with NCP leader Baba Siddique’s murder case. According to the Mumbai Police, Pravin is the brother of Shubham Lonkar, who posted on social media that the Lawrence Bishnoi gang had taken responsibility for the NCP leader’s murder. Shubham Lonkar was absconding.

The Mumbai police had claimed that Pravin Lonkar gave shelter to the Siddique murder accused in Pune. Pravin had been running “Lonkar Diary” in Pune since 2022 and had come into contact with criminals in the same year. Shubham is one of the suspects in the case of firing by two bikers outside Bollywood star Salman Khan’s residence at Bandra in Mumbai.

The Punjab Police had arrested Jaspreet Singh and Ram Rattan of Patiala on July 7, who had allegedly helped the shooters escape. Both were killed in crossfire near Panjpeer Tibba, where their accomplices were hiding to retrieve weapons. Later, three Bikaner natives were arrested from Sriganganagar, who had received foreign money to help the accused.

The police arrested Priyanjal Sharma and Anshuman Tiwari, natives of Madhya Pradesh, on July 16. They are accused of providing money to the shooters, who are yet to be arrested.