Cops probe if Baba Siddique was threatened over slum rehab project

The Mumbai police have launched a probe into the killing of former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique from different angles, including a possible contract killing, business rivalry or threat over a slum rehabilitation project, officials said on Sunday.

The murder of the Nationalist Congress Party leader, who represented Bandra (West) seat three times in the assembly, is suspected to be a pre-planned act, a police official said.

A Congressman since his student days, Siddique quit the grand old party to join Ajit Pawar's NCP in February this year. He had a Y-category security.

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.

Baba Siddique (66), a popular figure in Bollywood circles who earned praise for supplying life-saving medicines to patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, was waylaid by three men at Kher Nagar in Mumbai's Bandra area just outside his MLA son Zeeshan Siddique's office and shot at on Saturday night.

He was taken to the Lilavati Hospital where he was declared dead.

The police arrested two of the alleged assailants, identified as Haryana residence Gurmail Baljit Singh (23) and Uttar Pradesh native Dharmaraj Rajesh Kashyap (19), while another accused is on the run and efforts are on to trace him, as per officials.

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, they 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 said.

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 postmortem, an official said.

A doctor from the Lilavati Hospital has said Siddique probably died before being shifted to the medical facility.

He was unconscious when brought to the hospital on Saturday night after being shot at. Doctors tried for almost two hours to save him, but in vain, he said.

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.

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.

The shooters opened four to five rounds of fire from a 9.9 MM pistol which was recovered by police, he said.

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.

Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar described the attack as extremely unfortunate and condemnable.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said the incident is 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.

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.
The assassination of Baba Siddique is the first high-profile political murder in Mumbai in last three decades.

In the early 90s, Ramdas Nayak and Premkumar Sharma, then sitting BJP MLAs from Bandra and Khetwadi, respectively, were shot dead.

Shiv Sena legislators Vitthal Chavan and Ramesh More were also gunned down in Mumbai in the 90s.

The opposition NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar said Baba 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 is shocking beyond words.

"Justice must be ensured, and the present Maharashtra Govt must order a thorough and transparent investigation. The culprits must be brought to book at the earliest. Accountability is paramount," he said.

All India Congress Committee in-charge of Maharashtra Ramesh Chennithala claimed Siddique's murder shows there is "complete anarchy in Mumbai."

"The rule of law is gone. CM & Dy CM must resign immediately, taking responsibility," he said in a post on X.

Shiv Sena-Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray MP Priyanka Chaturvedi said if a protected person meets such fate, how will be common people feel safe?