LIVE | Baba Siddique murder: 7-day police custody for one, other claims to be minor
The shocking incident has prompted the Opposition to question the law-and-order situation in the state where assembly elections are due next month
Mumbai Police are investigating the murder of former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique from different angles, including a possible contract killing, business rivalry, or threat over a slum rehabilitation project, officials in the know have told news agency PTI.
The murder of the NCP (Ajit Pawar) leader, who represented Bandra (West) seat three times in the Assembly, is suspected to be a pre-planned act, a police official told PTI.
Siddique quit the Congress to join Ajit Pawar’s NCP in February this year. He had Y-category security cover.
Waylaid and shot
Siddique (66), a popular figure in Bollywood circles, was waylaid by three men at Kher Nagar in Mumbai’s Bandra just outside his MLA son Zeeshan Siddique’s office and shot at on Saturday (October 12) night.
He was taken to Lilavati Hospital where he was declared dead.
Police have arrested two of the alleged assailants, identified as Haryana resident Gurmail Baljit Singh (23) and Uttar Pradesh native Dharmaraj Rajesh Kashyap (19), while another accused, Shiva, is on the run and efforts are on to trace him, officials say. Singh was remanded in seven-day police custody while Kashyap has claimed to be a minor and hence the court has ordered an ossification test to determine his age.
The accused have been booked under relevant Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections, including for murder, as well as provisions of the Arms Act and the Maharashtra Police Act, police said.
May have been taken to hospital dead
Siddique was shifted to the Lilavati Hospital’s emergency medical services at 9.30 pm on Saturday in an unresponsive condition with no pulse, no cardiac activity, no blood pressure, and with a history of gunshot wounds on the chest, officials from the medical facility said.
He had lost a lot of blood and resuscitation was initiated immediately. He was shifted to the ICU where further attempts for revival were made. Despite all resuscitative efforts, doctors were unable to revive him and he was declared dead at 11.27 pm on Saturday, they said.
A doctor told PTI that Siddique had probably died before being shifted there.
Forensic samples collected
The NCP leader’s body was shifted from Lilavati Hospital in Bandra to Cooper Hospital in Vile Parle area around 6 am on Sunday for post-mortem, an official said.
After the incident, a forensic team visited the crime spot and collected samples and police were checking CCTV footage of the nearby spots to get more information about the attack, a police official said.
A team from the Delhi Police’s Special Cell is also set to be dispatched to Mumbai to assist in the investigation of Siddique’s murder, police sources told PTI.
Pistol found
The shooters reportedly opened four to five rounds of fire from a 9.9 mm pistol which was recovered by police.
During the probe, police found the assailants fired at Siddique when people started bursting firecrackers during a Durga visarjan procession, a police official said.
They got advantage as most of the people did not hear the gunshots sound, the police said.
Opposition attacks government
The shocking incident has prompted the opposition to question the law-and-order situation in the state, where the assembly elections are expected to be held next month.
His assassination is the first high-profile political murder in Mumbai in past three decades.
The opposition NCP(SP) said Siddique’s murder was shocking and shameful for the state. If a leader from the ruling alliance is not safe, how can the government keep the common man safe, NCP(SP) state president Jayant Patil asked.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge in a post on X said Siddique’s demise was shocking beyond words. “Justice must be ensured, and the present Maharashtra government must order a thorough and transparent investigation. The culprits must be brought to book at the earliest,” he said.
Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said if a protected person meets such fate, how will be common people feel safe?
Fear of gang war?
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar described the attack as extremely unfortunate and condemnable.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said the incident was deeply regrettable.
“We have directed the police to ensure no one takes law into their hands under any circumstances. We cannot allow any form of gang war to resurface in our city,” he said.
Iftar parties, COVID medicines
During the COVID-19 pandemic peak, Baba Siddique had arranged highly sought-after medicines for needy patients.
He was also known for his grand Iftar parties which were attended by top Bollywood stars.
A prominent Muslim leader from Mumbai, he was also known be close to several Bollywood stars, including Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and Sanjay Dutt.
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Two youths allegedly involved in the killing of Baba Siddique are from Gandara village in Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh. Both Dharmaraj Kashyap and Shiv Kumar alias Shiva Gautam are from regular families and have no criminal history, police said on Sunday.
SP Vrinda Shukla said both of them were working at a scrapyard in Pune, Maharashtra. They have no criminal history in Bahraich, he said. While Dharmaraj has been arrested, Shiv Kumar is still missing.
Kaiserganj Circle Officer (CO) Anil Kumar Singh said, “Shiv Kumar had gone to Maharashtra a few years ago to work as a labourer and had invited Dharmaraj to join him.”
Shiva’s mother, Suman, expressed shock and disbelief at the allegations. While speaking to the media, she described her son as a hardworking and peaceful person. She said that he had gone to Pune to work at a scrapyard and had last visited the village during Holi.
“Policemen and media people have been coming and going since morning asking about Shiva. The police have questioned us too,” she added.
Dharmaraj’s mother Kusum also said he had gone to Pune to work as a scrap dealer. “When the police came to our house in the morning, we came to know that my son is involved in some case.”
Though they have no criminal history in Bahraich, still, as a precaution, “the police are trying to gather information about both of them”, SP Vrinda Shukla told mediapersons.
“They belong to normal families and both were in touch with their families. A police team visited their homes to find out whether they have any information about this incident,” she added.
Head of the village Hasnain Kamal said the villagers were unaware of the alleged involvement of the two men in the murder. “Shiva or Dharmaraj have no criminal history in the village and could be victims of a conspiracy,” he said.
Haryana-resident Gurmail Baljit Singh, accused of being one of the shooters who killed Baba Siddique, has a criminal history, including a murder case against him, police said on Sunday.
Singh’s (23) family said they disowned him 11 years ago and have called for exemplary punishment for his actions.
Mumbai Police have arrested two of the alleged assailants — Singh from Haryana and Uttar Pradesh-native Dharmaraj Rajesh Kashyap. The third accused, Shiv Kumar, is on the run and efforts are on to trace him, police said.
The trio have been booked under relevant Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections, including for murder and under provisions of the Arms Act and the Maharashtra Police Act, they said.
Giving details of Singh's criminal record, Kaithal Superintendent of Police Rajesh Kalia told PTI that the accused was arrested in a murder case in 2019, in which he got bail later.
Another case was registered against him after a mobile phone was recovered from him in jail in 2022, the Haryana Police officer said. He had been booked in another case of beating a youth, he said.
Singh’s grandmother Phuli Devi told reporters in Kaithal that the family disowned him 11 years ago. “His parents have passed away. The family has disowned him for the past 11 years. He is nothing to us now,” she told reporters at her residence in her Narar village.
Asked about what work Singh did, his grandmother said, “He did nothing. He came out of jail on bail. He was in jail for four years.” She said he should be given exemplary punishment as per law for his deeds.
Mumbai Police have reportedly identified another suspect, Mohammad Zeeshan Akhtar, in the case.
"Police have set up 15 teams which are fanned out of Maharashtra and investigation is on to identify who provided logistical support to the shooters. Two pistols and 28 live rounds were recovered from the accused," he added.