NAGPUR: The arrest of Lawrence Bishnoi henchman Shubham Lonkar's college friend, Sumit Wagh, from Akola by Mumbai police last week, one-and-a-half-months after politician Baba Siddique's murder, has raised questions about the efforts of local cops. In another loose end, apart from bookie-turned-Lonkar loyalist Wagh, his aide Salman Vohra was also arrested a few days ago.
Shubham, alias Shubbu, is still on the run and is likely to have fled to Nepal, sources said.His co-conspirator Zeeshan Akthar is also on the run. Shubham had been arrested by Akola police earlier this year, but Maharashtra police failed to unearth his network, which remains active, providing crucial logistical support to him and his gang's activities.

Lonkar, now wanted in Siddique's murder, was developing his network in Akola, which seems to have been investigated half-heartedly. After Lonkar's arrest earlier this year, Akola police nabbed nine of his associates, but still the key operatives from the district, like Wagh and Vohra, remained under the radar for one-and-a-half months.
Wagh, a close friend from Lonkar's tehsil and also his college mate, gave cash to Vohra to open a bank account. Vohra opened a bank account in his name at Petlad in Gujarat and transferred cash to the sharpshooters who bumped off Siddique on October 12. This Akola-based module is also learnt to have received cash from Canada via hawala.
Vohra and Wagh ensured Bishnoi's network received financial support and funding in different corners of the country and also did deals for various criminal activities, amassing weapons and ammunition. Sources said the failure of Maharashtra police in conducting thorough probe into the call detail records, most-called numbers, contact lists, and such technical analysis led to security machinery being caught off guard in Siddique's murder.
"Mumbai police were caught by surprise in Siddique's murder. They had not probed Lonkar's cellphone data as deeply as required when he was arrested. Wagh must have been in his contact list or call details if he was a friend and associating with him for crimes. The question is why Wagh's name did not surface in the probe earlier, and it took 45 days for the investigating agency to unearth the connection between about him and Vohra," he said.
Vohra, who was in touch with Wagh, was the first to be arrested when he landed in Akola to participate in a kin's funeral. Wagh was netted after Vohra named him in the interrogation, said sources.