Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Baba Siddiqui was shot dead on Saturday evening in Mumbai. Just two days before his murder, Mr Siddiqui had made his last Instagram post. The politician, who actively used his social media handles to interact with his supporters, had posted a heartfelt tribute to the late industrialist Ratan Tata, who died on October 9 at age 86.
In his post, Mr Siddiqui described Ratan Tata's death as the “End of an Era.”
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A post shared by Baba Siddique (@babasiddiqueofficial)
The 66-year-old politician was shot dead by three men in Kher Nagar near his son's office in Bandra. The gunmen fired at least six bullets, four of which struck him in the chest. He was rushed to Lilavati Hospital where he was declared dead.
Two suspects, Gurmail Baljit Singh from Haryana and Dharamraj Kashyap from Uttar Pradesh, were arrested shortly after the killing, while a third suspect remains at large. During their interrogation, the arrested men claimed they belong to Lawrence Bishnoi's gang. Neither the cops have confirmed this nor the gang has admitted they are behind the killing. Bishnoi, who is currently imprisoned in Gujarat, has been linked to several high-profile murders and extortion cases in the recent past.
Police are probing the murder from two angles: one focuses on the possible involvement of the Bishnoi gang – due to Mr Siddiqui's proximity to Bollywood actor Salman Khan – who has previously received death threats from the gang. The second angle relates to a slum rehabilitation case. Sources suggest that Mr Siddiqui had received death threats just 15 days before the attack, prompting him to be placed under ‘Y' category security cover.
The Mumbai Police Crime Branch has formed four special teams to investigate the case, but so far, no conclusive motive has been established.
