Mumbai:

After meeting with Joint Commissioner of Crime Branch of Mumbai Police Lakhmi Gautam, Nationalist Congress Party leader and son of former MLA and NCP leader Baba Siddique, Zeeshan Siddiqui on Thursday expressed dissatisfaction over the investigation in his father’s murder and said that the law and order have been made a joke in Mumbai.

“I had given the names of those whom I suspect in my statement. When I asked if all of them had been questioned, I was told that they had not been questioned. When I asked the police why the statements of those builders were not recorded, they did not give me a satisfactory answer. Seeing this, I feel that law and order are being made a joke in Mumbai. This is not a fair investigation, for I will now meet our leader and Deputy Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Ajit Pawar. I will also meet Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who was my father’s friend. I hope I will get justice. I will take every possible step that I feel is right to get justice,” said Zeeshan Siddiqui while speaking to the media.

“After my father was killed, it was said that Bishnoi had done it. Why was this narrative set? I am not denying this but if it has been done by the Bishnoi gang, then the accused must be brought back to India. This is condemnable,” he added.

Notably, Baba Siddique was an NCP leader who was shot dead by three assailants near his son, MLA Zeeshan Siddique’s, office in Mumbai’s Nirmal Nagar on October 12.

The Lawrence Bishnoi gang claimed responsibility for the NCP leader’s murder.

Mumbai Police’s investigation into the Baba Siddiqui murder case has revealed that prime suspect Akashdeep Gill, arrested in Punjab, used a labourer’s mobile hotspot to communicate with key conspirators, including mastermind Anmol Bishnoi, police said.

Gill was identified as the logistics coordinator in the murder plot orchestrated by notorious gangster Anmol Bishnoi.

According to the information received from a senior officer of the Mumbai Crime Branch, the investigation of the Mumbai Crime Branch has revealed that after the murder of Baba Siddiqui, a big leader of Pune was also on the radar of the Bishnoi gang.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Mumbai:

Zeeshan Siddique, the NCP candidate from Bandra East, voted today in the Maharashtra Assembly elections and said that it was the first time he came to a polling booth without his father Baba Siddique. Mr Siddique, a prominent NCP leader and former minister, was gunned down on October 12 near his son’s office by attackers allegedly linked to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.

“For the first time, I have come alone to vote. My father is no more. This is different but this will have to be done. I know that my father is with me. I started my day by visiting the graveyard in the morning…I think everyone must vote,” Zeeshan Siddique said. 

#WATCH | “For the first time, I have come alone to vote. My father (Baba Siddiqui) is no more. This is different but this will have to be done”: Zeeshan Siddique

Video courtesy: ANI/X#Babasiddique#ZeeshanSiddique#MaharahstraElection2024pic.twitter.com/Ibfs5dWvWR

— NDTV (@ndtv) November 20, 2024

The 32-year-old former Congress leader faces Varun Sardesai, Shiv Sena (UBT) Chief Uddhav Thackeray’s nephew, in a high-stakes battle in Bandra East. Zeeshan Siddique joined the Ajit Pawar-led faction of the NCP in October. Mr Siddique will defend the Bandra East seat he won in the 2019 election when he was with the Congress.

Maharashtra’s single-phase assembly elections saw polling begin at 7 am across 288 constituencies, with voting set to conclude at 6 pm. Over 9.7 crore voters are registered to choose among 4,136 candidates contesting this year, marking a 28 per cent rise from 2019’s 3,239 candidates.

The BJP-led Mahayuti alliance and the Congress-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) are vying for control of the assembly. The Mahayuti includes the BJP, Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction), and NCP (Ajit Pawar faction), while the MVA brings together the Congress, Shiv Sena (UBT), and NCP (Sharad Pawar faction).

Key figures in the elections include Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, contesting from Baramati against his nephew Yugendra Pawar, marking another compelling electoral contest.

Nationalist Congress Party leader and party Bandra East candidate Zeeshan Siddiqui arrives to file his nomination papers for the Maharashtra Asssembly elections, in Mumbai on Monday. Party MLA Chhagan Bhujbal also present.
| Photo Credit: ANI

In poll-bound Maharashtra, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), led by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, has fielded sitting MLA Zeeshan Siddique from Mumbai’s Bandra East against Shiv Sena (UBT) candidate Varun Sardesai. This move sets up an intriguing contest, raising the question whether the NCP can secure a win with a former Congress leader or if the Shiv Sena (UBT) can take the seat with its debutant candidate.

For 32-year-old Mr. Siddique, this poll will mark his first election without his father, former Minister Baba Siddique, who was killed on October 12. For 31-year-old Mr. Sardesai, a cousin of former Minister Aaditya Thackeray, it will be an opportunity to move from the realm of university elections to State elections and, possibly, lay the foundation stone of his political career.

Why have only two Maharashtra CMs completed a full term? | Explained 

Bandra East dynamics

A suburb in western Mumbai, Bandra East is known for its high-end business hub — the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC), government housing colonies and slums. Over the years, Bandra was identified as a Congress stronghold. Out of ten elections until 2008, the Congress won eight times.

Bandra East was established as a separate Assembly segment following delimitation in 2008. Since then, the Shiv Sena held control over it until 2014. In 2019, Mr. Siddique (then with the Congress) won the seat by a margin of 5,790 votes against the (undivided) Shiv Sena contestant Vishwanath Mahadeshwar.

However, Mr. Siddique was suspended from the party for alleged cross-voting in the recent Maharashtra Legislative Council election. He then joined the Ajit Pawar-led NCP. Mr. Siddique had dismissed the allegations of cross-voting, saying, “How I can vote nine times to ensure the defeat of MVA MLC candidates?”

Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Siddique said, “I was a newbie during my first term, but now I have learnt a lot of things after serving people for five years. I will definitely win with a huge margin as the people of Bandra have seen me working on their issues of housing and water, and during the pandemic. In the process, my family had to sacrifice a lot.”

The NCP is also banking on the sympathy votes that Mr. Siddique may get owing to his father’s death.

An emerging face in the Shiv Sena (UBT), Mr. Sardesai is known for his poll strategy and campaigning extensively for party candidates during the Lok Sabha election. He also played an important role in the Mumbai University senate election, where the Shiv Sena (UBT) won all 10 seats. “He is committed to the idea of bringing in new perspectives. He has been working in Bandra East for some time now and the strategy is clear: fighting for the core issues of the people,” said Sena (UBT) spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi.

In the Lok Sabha election, Bandra East had given a substantial lead of 27,480 votes to sitting Mumbai North Central MP Varsha Gaikwad of the Congress against BJP candidate Ujjwal Nikam.

Bandra East is known as the poor cousin of Bandra West, a posh region where many film stars reside. It has a sizeable population of Muslim, Dalit, and middle-class Marathi families. The pressing issues in the Assembly segment are sanitation, housing, and water. Residents of slum pockets in Bandra East are fighting for land rights, housing rights and against illegal demolition. For instance, over 5,000 families in Bharat Nagar are demanding redevelopment under the State housing authority, Mhada, and not under the Slum Rehabilitation Authority’s redevelopment scheme.

Mumbai:

Making the second such arrest in quick succession, the Mumbai Police have arrested a man for threatening to kill actor Salman Khan. 

The Mumbai Traffic Police’s control room had received an anonymous message threatening to kill the actor if Rs 2 crore was not given as ransom. A case was registered by the Mumbai Police and, officials said, Azam Mohammad Mustafa – a resident of Bandra East – was arrested on Wednesday. 

Earlier this week, Gufran Khan, a 20-year-old tattoo artist from Noida, had been arrested for threatening Salman Khan and Bandra East MLA Zeeshan Siddique. 

Mr Siddique is the son of former Maharashtra minister and NCP leader Baba Siddique, who was shot dead in Bandra on October 12. Baba Siddique was known to be close to Salman Khan and had played a role in ending the actor’s five-year-long cold war with Shah Rukh Khan in 2013.

The tattoo artist, who had been arrested by the Mumbai Police, said he had planned to send another threatening message to demand money but was apprehended before he could do so.

The Lawrence Bishnoi gang had claimed responsibility for the firing outside Salman Khan’s residence in Bandra in April and, in a Facebook post, also said it was responsible for Baba Siddique’s murder. 

The post from the handle of one Shubuu Lonkar, believed to be Bishnoi gang associate Shubham Rameshwar Lonkar, claimed that Siddique had been killed because he was linked to India’s most wanted terrorist Dawood Ibrahim, was close to Salman Khan and because of the death of Anuj Thapan, one of the arrested suspects in the shooting outside Mr Khan’s house, in police custody.

“We do not have any enmity with anyone but whoever helps Salman Khan and the Dawood gang, keep your accounts in order (‘hisaab-kitaab kar lena’),” Lonkar wrote in Hindi in the Facebook post.

Why Salman Khan?

The Bishnoi gang, which became a household name after claiming responsibility for murdering musician Sidhu Moose Wala in 2022, has said it wants to kill Salman Khan because of his alleged involvement in shooting blackbucks at Bawad in Mathania near Jodhpur in September 1998, during the filming of ‘Hum Saath Saath Hain’.

The alleged act had upset the Bishnoi community, which considers the blackbuck sacred.

Lawrence Bishnoi had said during a court appearance in 2018: “We will kill Salman Khan in Jodhpur. Everyone will know once we take action. I have not done anything as of now, they are accusing me of crimes for no reason.”

Mumbai:

Zeeshan Siddique, son of ex-Maharashtra minister Baba Siddiqui – who was shot dead on October 12 – joined the Ajit Pawar-led faction of the Nationalist Congress party Friday morning.

He joined in the presence of Mr Pawar, who is also the Deputy Chief Minister.

Mr Siddique will defend the Vandre (East) seat he won in the 2019 election when he was with the Congress. His opponent will be Varun Sardesai, the nephew of Uddhav Thackeray, whose Shiv Sena faction is allied with the Congress and Sharad Pawar’s NCP group as the Maha Vikas Aghadi.

Expelled by the Congress in August – after reports of cross-voting in a legislative council election – Mr Siddique’s jump to the NCP comes a day after he hit out at the Maha Vikas Aghadi, accusing them of having deserted him after his father, a three-time Congress MLA who also moved to the NCP, died.

Mr Siddique’s outrage was after the MVA said Vandre (East) will be contested by Thackeray’s Sena as part of a deal that will see his party, Sharad Pawar’s NCP, and the Congress fight 85 seats each.

And, in his first comment after following his father’s footsteps, Mr Siddique once again slammed the opposition alliance for having abandoned him. “MVA declared their candidates and the Congress’ seat (of Vandre (East) was given to the Shiv Sena (Thackeray’s camp) … this is very unfortunate.”

“Congress and MVA leaders were in touch with me over the past few days… but they intended to deceive. In that difficult time, Ajit Pawar, Praful Patel, Sunil Tatkare, and the NCP trusted me.”

“This is an emotional day for my family and me…” he told NDTV after joining the NCP.

“I have got the nomination from Vandre (East), I am sure that with the love and support of all the people, I will definitely win Bandra East yet again… It was an unfinished dream of my father that we win this seat again and fight for the rights of people. He was murdered while fighting for this.”

“His blood runs in my veins. I will fight his fight and win by a record margin…” he declared.

READ | “I Carry His Roar In Me”: Son’s Post After Baba Siddique Murder

On Thursday, after it was confirmed that the Thackeray Sena would contest Vandre (East), Mr Siddique posted a caustic comment on X. “I heard old friends have announced their candidates from Vandre East. Supporting was never in their nature. Maintain relations with those who give respect.”

READ | “Old Friends…”: Baba Siddiqui’s Son Jabs Congress Over Seat Pick

Baba Siddiqui, 66, was shot dead outside his son’s office in Bandra on October 12. Fourteen people have been arrested so far as police probe different angles to establish the motive.

The former Food and Civil Supplies Minister, Baba Siddiqui was the Congress MLA from the formerly undivided Vandre seat for two terms. The seat was bifurcated in 2008, after which he was the Vandre (West) MLA. Earlier this year, too he quit the Congress and joined Ajit Pawar’s NCP faction.

Maharashtra will vote in a single phase on November 20, with results due three days later.

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Mumbai MLA Zeeshan Siddique, son of Maharashtra’s former minister Baba Siddique who was murdered last week, asserted today that he is ready to take his father’s place in service to the people.  “The blood of a lion runs in my veins. I am still here, unafraid and unbroken. They took one, but I rise in his place. This fight is far from over. Today, I stand where he stood : ALIVE, RELENTLESS and READY,” read his post on social media platform X, formerly twitter.

They silenced my father. But they forget – he was a lion-and I carry his roar within me, his fight in my veins. He stood for justice, fought for change and withstood the storms with unwavering courage. Now, those who brought him down turn their sights on me assuming they’ve won,…

— Zeeshan Siddique (@zeeshan_iyc) October 20, 2024

Baba Siddique was shot down last week, apparently  by the order of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, who is currently in Gujarat’s Sabarmati Jail. The motive, apparently, was the former minister’s close relationship with Bollywood actor Salman Khan. 

Investigators said Zeeshan Siddique is also a target for the same reason. His photo has been found on the cellphone seized from one of the three men who shot his father.

While nothing is on record, Bishnoi’s associates have given the impression that his grouse against Salman Khan is about the blackbucks the actor killed 20 years ago. 

Siddique was shot by three men near his MLA son’s office in  Mumbai’s Bandra area on October 12. 

The former Congress leader, who had switched to NCP, was taken to the nearby Lilavati Hospital, where he was declared dead. 

The police have arrested nine people – including two of the three shooters – in the case so far.

Bishnoi, who has multiple cases agaisnt him, including of murder,  had shot into limelight with the murder of Punjabi artiste Siddhu Moose Wala.

Mumbai:

A photo of Zeeshan Siddique was found in the phone of one of the men who shot his father, Baba Siddique, last Saturday. The phone recovered from one of the accused arrested during the investigation of the murder case of the NCP leader had his photo, police sources said.

According to the sources, the photo was shared with the accused by their handler through Snapchat. The platform, investigators say, was used by the shooters and conspirators in the case to send messages to each other.

These messages were deleted on instruction from their handler, allegedly belonging to the gang of the notorious gangster Lawrence Bishnoi.

Read | Son’s Cryptic Post After Baba Siddique Murder

Siddique was shot by three men near his MLA son’s office in Nirmal Nagar in Mumbai’s Bandra area on October 12. The Congress-turned-NCP leader was rushed to nearby Lilavati Hospital where he was declared dead. The police have arrested nine people – including two of the three shooters – in the case so far. Five of them – Nitin Gautam Sapre (32), Sambhaji Kisan Pardhi (44), Pradeep Dattu Thombre (37), Chetan Dilip Pardhi and Ram Fulchand Kanoujia (43) -were arrested yesterday for allegedly providing firearms and logistical support to the shooters. Three accused are still on the run, police said.

Kanoujia, a resident of Panvel in Raigad, told police that the contract to kill Siddique was initially given to him and Sapre, sources said. He quoted a whopping amount of Rs 1 crore to take up the contract as, he said, he didn’t want to kill Siddique, the sources added. After Kanaujia and Sapre backed off, the task was given to Dharmraj Kashyap, Gurnail Singh and Shivkumar Gautam, the sources said. Kashyap and Singh were arrested on the day of the crime while Gautam managed to escape.

The accused told police that Shubham Lonkar – who was an alleged conspirator and the handler of the shooters in the case – chose Kashyap and Gautam for the job because he knew the people of Uttar Pradesh would not know about Baba Siddiqui’s stature in Maharashtra and that they would agree to commit the murder even for less money, according to the police sources.

Constable With Baba Siddique During Shooting Incident Suspended

When Baba Siddique was shot, he had only one police constable – a part of his security detail – accompanying him who did not retaliate when six rounds were fired at the senior politician. The security personnel has been suspended.

The constable told the investigators that he failed to react at the time of the incident as some “chilli-like substance” had entered his eyes, the sources said.

The three shooters and a co-conspirator had stationed themselves close to Mr Siddique’s waiting car, as per a reconstruction of the assassination. As the 66-year-old came out of the office and tried to get inside the car, the killers let off some device that covered the area in thick smoke. Many thought it was the smoke from the firecrackers, which also masked the noise of gunshots.

Baba Siddique had a ‘2+1’ security which means, two security guards during the day and one at night. When he went to Bandra East on October 12, he had two security guards with him. But before he left his son’s office, around 8:30 pm, one of the two security guards had left the location.

Lawrence Bishnoi Gang Link?

The Mumbai Crime Branch is also probing if the arrested accused had any link to the firing outside actor Salman Khan’s Galaxy Apartments residence in Mumbai’s Bandra area in April. Lawrence Bishnoi had taken responsibility for the crime.

A day after Siddique’s murder, a Facebook post claimed the Bishnoi gang was behind it. Hours later, a 28-year-old man was arrested from Pune. The police said the arrested man, Pravin Lonkar, was a “co-conspirator” and added that they were on the lookout for his brother, Shubham Lonkar.

31-year-old Bishnoi is in jail since 2015 is accused of running a trans-national crime syndicate by the National Investigation Agency. His name has been linked to several high-profile murder and extortion cases including the 2022 killing of popular Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala.

New Delhi:

Even as the number of arrests in NCP leader Baba Siddique’s murder case went up to nine, his MLA son Zeeshan Siddique on Friday shared a cryptic post on social media platform X.

Not all that is hidden sleeps,
Nor all that is visible speaks.

— Zeeshan Siddique (@zeeshan_iyc) October 18, 2024

On the same day, Zeeshan Siddique met Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who also holds the home portfolio in the Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led Maharashtra government, and was apprised of the police probe so far into the murder of his father.

Earlier on Thursday, Zeeshan Siddique had demanded justice for his family, while also appealing that his father’s death should not be politicised and nor should it go in vain.

Baba Siddique was gunned down near Zeeshan Siddique’s office in Nirmal Nagar in Mumbai’s Bandra area on October 12. Nine persons have been arrested in the case so far, including five held on Friday after raids in Panvel and Karjat in neighbouring Raigad district.

Meanwhile, a shooter of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang claimed Baba Siddique was not a good man and had connections with India’s most-wanted criminal Dawood Ibrahim. 

Yogesh alias Raju (26), who is associated with the Lawrence Bishnoi-Hashim Baba gangs but not linked with Baba Siddique’s killing, said, “There were charges against him under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). It is said that he was associated with Dawood, the man behind the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts. When people get involved with such individuals, something is bound to happen. This is exactly what happened to Siddique,” Raju claimed.

As investigation into the case continues and security for actor Salman Khan was ramped up after the 66-year-old NCP leader’s murder, police in Mumbai received a threat message demanding Rs 5 crore from Mr Khan, claiming to resolve his conflict with imprisoned gangster Lawrence Bishnoi. The message also warned that if the demand is not met, “Salman Khan’s condition will be worse than Baba Siddique.”

Mumbai:

In his first reaction after his father and former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique was shot dead last week, Bandra East MLA Zeeshan Siddique has said he and his family want justice. Mr Siddique also made an appeal that his father’s death should not be politicised and nor should it go in vain.

In a post on X on Thursday, Zeeshan Siddique wrote: “My father lost his life protecting and saving the lives and homes of poor innocent people. Today, my family is broken but his death must not be politicised and definitely not go in vain. I NEED JUSTICE, MY FAMILY NEEDS JUSTICE!”

Baba Siddique, 66, was shot dead by three men outside Zeeshan’s Bandra East office around 9.30 pm on Dussehra, October 13. Police had said six bullets were fired at him, four of which hit him and another hit an aide in the leg. Siddique was rushed to the Lilavati Hospital, where he was declared dead.

Two of the shooters, Gurmail Baljit Singh from Haryana and Dharamraj Kashyap from Uttar Pradesh, were arrested soon after the murder while Shiv Kumar Gautam, who is also from Uttar Pradesh, is on the run.

On Sunday, Kashyap had claimed in a Mumbai court that his age was 17 despite his Aadhar card stating that he was 19, and a bone ossification test had been ordered. On Monday, the results of the test proved that he is not a minor.

Police sources said the suspects have claimed that they work for gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, who is lodged in Gujarat’s Sabarmati jail, and the same claim was made in a social media post on Sunday. The Facebook post was made on the handle of one Shubuu Lonkar, believed to be Bishnoi gang associate Shubham Rameshwar Lonkar, claiming responsibility for the murder.

Police said the post was made by Lonkar’s brother, Pravin, who was arrested from Pune on Sunday evening. On Tuesday, another arrest was made in the case –  that of Harishkumar Balakram, 23, from Bahraich in Uttar Pradesh. Balakram worked as a scrap dealer in Pune and officials said he was part of the conspiracy to kill Baba Siddique.

The alleged handler of the three shooters, Mohammad Zeeshan Akhtar, is also on the run. 

Congress To NCP Switch

Baba Siddique, who was a three-time MLA from Bandra West, was associated with the Congress for 48 years. He had quit the party in February and joined Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Zeeshan Siddique was expelled from the Congress in August.

The NCP leader was murdered ahead of the Assembly elections in Maharashtra and the opposition has attacked the Eknath Shinde-led ruling BJP-NCP-Shiv Sena coalition over the law-and-order situation in the state.

After the killing, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) President Sharad Pawar had said people in the government should take responsibility and step down from their posts. 

“The deteriorating law and order situation in the state is a matter of concern. It is sad that former state minister Baba Siddique was shot dead in the country’s financial capital, Mumbai. If the Home minister and the rulers will take the state’s vehicle forward with such leniency, it can be a warning sign for the common people. This not only needs to be investigated, the rulers need to accept responsibility and step down from their posts. My heartfelt tribute to Baba Siddique and condolences to his family,” he wrote in Marathi on X. 

Chief Minister Shinde said law and order had deteriorated under the alliance led by the opposition coalition, which is known as the Maha Vikas Aghadi, and promised that the people responsible for Siddique’s killing would not be spared. 

Mumbai:

After former Maharashtra minister and NCP leader Baba Siddique was shot dead outside his son’s office on Saturday, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde assured that those responsible for Siddique’s brutal murder will not escape justice. 

“Our responsibility is to maintain law and order. Whoever is responsible for Baba Siddique’s murder will not be spared,” Mr Shinde said. 

The Chief Minister alleged that the law and order situation had deteriorated during the tenure of the previous Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. According to Mr Shinde, under the MVA’s administration, security measures had weakened, leading to a rise in criminal incidents, adding that his government would ensure that justice is delivered and that lawbreakers face the full weight of the law.

The murder of Mr Siddique shocked the state and triggered widespread concerns about public safety. The Mumbai Police has arrested two suspects in connection with the case. A third suspect remains at large, and the Chief Minister assured the public that efforts are being intensified to apprehend the fugitive. Shinde stated, “The third accused is on the run. 

“Yesterday’s incident of Baba Siddique’s murder is unfortunate and sad. Mumbai Police has arrested two people, one is from UP and the other from Haryana. The third accused is on the run. He will be arrested soon. They will not be spared no matter who they are be it the Bishnoi gang or any underworld gang. Strict action will be taken. Those who are receiving threats, their safety is the state government’s responsibility and it will fulfil its responsibility,” Mr Shinde said. 

According to police, Mr Siddique was shot multiple times, sustaining two critical gunshot wounds to his chest. He was immediately rushed to Mumbai’s Lilavati Hospital where he died shortly after his arrival.

A political slugfest erupted over the killing between the ruling BJP and Opposition parties. While the BJP-led Maharashtra government has requested not to “politicise” the incident, Opposition leaders, notably from the Congress, have slammed the ruling dispensation over what they describe as a “collapse of law and order.”