India
Baba Siddique murder: what we know so far | India News – Times of India
Baba Siddique was attacked by three armed men in Bandra on Saturday evening.
Siddique was attacked in Bandra, outside the office of his MLA son Zeeshan Siddique. He was taken to Lilavati Hospital emergency services in critical condition at 9.30 pm and was declared dead at 11.27 pm after resuscitation efforts failed.
After being shifted from Lilavati Hospital, his body was sent to Cooper Hospital for a post-mortem on Sunday morning. The incident has raised concerns about law and order in the state, especially with assembly elections expected next month.
Fired during the Durga Visarjan procession to drown out the sounds
A forensic team visited the crime scene and collected samples, while police are reviewing CCTV footage. The attackers used a 9.9 mm pistol and fired four to five bullets during a Durga Visarjan procession, taking advantage of the sound of fireworks.
They got an advantage because most people didn’t hear the gunshots, police said.
What doctors said
He was shifted to Lilavati Hospital’s emergency medical room at 9:30 pm in an unresponsive condition with no pulse, no cardiac activity, no blood pressure and with a history of gunshot wounds to the chest, officials at the medical facility said.
Siddique had lost a lot of blood and resuscitation was immediately started. He was transferred to the ICU where further attempts at resuscitation were made. Despite all resuscitation efforts, doctors failed to revive him and he was declared dead at 11.27pm on Saturday, they said.
Two of the three suspects arrested
Two suspects from Uttar Pradesh and Haryana have been arrested. A third suspect is still on the run. Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde confirmed the arrests and stressed the need for police to maintain law and order, stating that decisive action would be taken against those involved.
The suspects, Gurmel Singh from Haryana and Dharamraj Kashyap from Uttar Pradesh, both in their 20s, are currently in police custody and will be produced before the Esplanade Court. The arrested men claim innocence and shift the blame to the third suspect who managed to escape.
Mumbai Police, after interrogating the suspects for eight hours, said the suspects had been paid in advance for this work and had received arms shipments a few days ago.
The suspect scouted Baba Siddique’s house and kept him under surveillance for months
The case has been transferred to the crime branch for further investigation and police are probing the case from various angles, including contract killing, business rivalry and threat over a Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) project, the official said.
The suspects had explored Baba Siddiqui’s house and office premises. They were in Mumbai for one and a half to two months and kept an eye on him.
Work of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang?
Police are still investigating the exact motive behind Siddique’s murder, and one line of inquiry is a possible link to a dispute involving the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) involving Siddique.
Moreover, given Siddique’s close ties with actor Salman Khan, who was earlier threatened by the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, the police are investigating whether there is gang involvement in the murder.
A senior crime branch official said, “We are investigating whether this was the work of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, but we want to know for sure.”
Leaders express shock and horror
Siddique had represented the Bandra (West) seat three times. Siddique had joined Ajit Pawar’s NCP faction earlier this year after quitting the Congress, where he had been a prominent figure for over four decades. This murder It is the first high-profile political murder in Mumbai in thirty years.
Opposition leader and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi expressed shock and slammed the Maharashtra government for the ‘complete breakdown of law and order’. “The tragic death of Baba Siddique ji is shocking and saddening. My thoughts are with his family at this difficult time. This horrific incident exposes the complete breakdown of law and order in Maharashtra. The government must take responsibility and justice must prevail.” wrote Gandhi.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar expressed his condolences to X and described the attack as ‘extremely unfortunate and condemnable’. He added: “We have lost a leader who fought for the minority community and defended secularism.”
