Noted Maharashtra politician and NCP leader Baba Siddiqui was shot dead on Saturday night outside his MLA son Zeeshan Siddiqui's office near Colgate ground in Nirmal Nagar. Two persons were arrested immediately after the incident. According to sources, the shooters have claimed association with Lawrence Bishnoi's gang during the interrogation. However, the police are currently cross-verifying their statements. The accused have been doing recce of that area for the last 25-30 days. Sources reveal that all three accused had reached Bandra East by an auto rickshaw before the incident. They waited for some time before shooting Baba Siddiqui.
According to police, Baba Siddique was shot with three to four bullets, however, a clear picture will only emerge after the post-mortem. His body has been shifted to Cooper Hospital, where the post-mortem will be done. The arrested accused have been identified as Karnail Singh, hailing from Haryana and Dharmaraj Kashyap from Uttar Pradesh.Siddiqui, a three time-former MLA, had recently joined the NCP after quitting the Congress. The shooting, that coincided with Dussehra festivities, was carried out by three men. Two men - Karnail Singh from Haryana and Dharamraj Kashyap from Uttar Pradesh - were arrested while the third remains on the run. Cops, however, believe someone else was providing them with information about Mr Siddique's location.
The cops are probing the case from two angles - one involving the Bishnoi gang and another related to a slum rehabilitation case. The involvement of the Bishnoi gang is suspected due to Mr Siddique's proximity to Bollywood star Salman Khan, who had received threats from Lawrence Bishnoi. Sources close to the victim claim he had received a death threat 15 days ago and was given the ‘Y' category security cover.Mr Siddique, however, did not report any threat from the Bishnoi gang, according to the police. Central agencies are in touch with the Mumbai Police while cops in Gujarat and Delhi are also probing the case. Lawrence Bishnoi, who faces dozens of criminal cases, is currently lodged in a jail in Gujarat, but his gang keeps making headlines over ransom calls to businessmen. Salman Khan has been on his “target list” over his infamous 1998 black buck hunting case.