Mumbai: A special MCOCA court on Wednesday issued open-ended warrants against gangsters Anmol Bishnoi, Shubham Lonkar and Yasin Akhtar, after observing that they played active roles in the murder of MLA Baba Siddique.

The prosecution had on Tuesday approached the special MCOCA court seeking warrants against them as the trio have been untraceable.

Siddique, 66, was killed on October 12 near his son Zeeshan Siddique’s office in Bandra. So far, police have arrested 26 suspects in connection with the murder. The police last month submitted a charge sheet against them claiming that the murder was ordered by Bishnoi, who is heading the gang.

Public prosecutor Wajeed Shaikh contended that Bishnoi gave instructions to the arrested accused for the murder of Siddique through Snapchat, and also provided financial help. The prosecution also pointed out that the court had sent an extradition request for Bishnoi to the United States in connection with firing at the house of Bollywood actor Salman Khan.

Besides, for Akhtar, the prosecution pointed out that he was in contact with arrested accused and shooters Dharmraj Kashyap, Gurmel Singh and Shivakumar Gautam through Snapchat and Instagram and WhatsApp. While for Lonkar the prosecution pointed out several financial transactions with the arrested accused and said he was an active member of the gang.

Besides, the prosecution said of Lonkar, “He practiced firing in Jharkhand before this incident. As per directions of Shubham and arrested accused Pravin Lonkar, firearm was handed over to arrested accused Rupesh Mohol. This accused made a post viral through his Facebook account accepting responsibility for the murder of ex-MLA Baba Siddiqui.”

After hearing the three pleas, the court allowed them, and said the accused were actively involved in the crime and have not been found even after several efforts by the prosecuting agency.