Baba Siddique Received Death Threat a Fortnight Ago, was under Y Category Security

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, Oct 13: The murder of the former Maharashtra minister and Ajit Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress leader Baba Siddique on Saturday evening in a crowded place in Bandra has raised serious question about the functioning of the Mumbai police.

The politician, who took a big jump in February this year by ending his four-decade-long ties with the Congress and joining the Ajit Pawar-led NCP, had received a death threat just 15 days ago and was under ‘Y’ category security. And despite that, the attackers could breach the security cover and fire at him from very close range to instantly kill the former minister.

The attackers are believed to have made preparations all in advance and tracked his whereabouts for over two months, sources said. The police sources said they are probing the ‘contract killing’ angle in the case as they suspect the mastermind in the case, who is still unknown, made payment to killers to attack without warning.

The three accused in the murder of Baba Siddique received their weapons through a prepaid courier just days before the shooting and were paid Rs 50,000 each, the police sources said. The accused had been living in a rented room in Kurla since September 2, paying a monthly rent of Rs 14,000, sources claimed. They also revealed that the three accused met while incarcerated in a jail in Punjab. The Mumbai police have sought assistance from the Uttar Pradesh police to locate the third accused.

Two people have been arrested in connection with his killing. The two accused–Gurmail Singh from Haryana and Dharamraj Kashyap from Uttar Pradesh–claimed during interrogation that they belonged to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, a notorious gangster currently in jail, Crime Branch sources said. The third person involved in his killing is still on the run. The police sources revealed that a total of four persons were involved in the incident with one person relaying information about Siddique’s movement to the attackers.

Baba Siddique’s attackers used firecrackers as cover to shoot the NCP leader. The incident occurred during Dussehra celebrations when firecrackers were being burst outside the office of his son and MLA Zeeshan Siddique. Three masked attackers reportedly stepped out of a car and opened fire at Siddique with a 9.9 mm pistol without warning, using the firecracker sound as cover.

As many as six rounds were fired, of which two hit the NCP leader, said police. One of the bullets cracked the windshield of Baba Siddique’s vehicle, confirming that multiple shots were fired. Police also recovered bullet casings from the scene, according to another video that surfaced online.

Doctors from Lilavati Hospital, where NCP leader Baba Siddique was admitted after being shot, have confirmed that the 66-year-old politician succumbed to injuries at 11:27 pm and had ‘two gunshot wounds.’ Dr Nitin Gokhale, Cardiologist at Leelavti Hospital, said, “Baba Siddique Saheb was brought to Leelavti Hospital at 9:30 pm, with no pulse rate and blood pressure. He had two gunshot wounds on his chest. We started the emergency and recitative measures. He was shifted to the ICU. At 11:27 pm he was declared dead. The number of bullets fired will be certain after post-mortem.”

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde vowed that the state government would ensure that the case was tried in a fast-track court. “This is an extremely unfortunate incident and I spoke to the doctors and police. Two people have been arrested, the accused are from UP and Haryana. The third accused is absconding. We have given instructions to Mumbai Police that strict action should be taken against those who take law and order into their hands…I am sure that Mumbai police will soon arrest the third accused… We will take this case to a fast-track court,” he said during a press conference.

The mother of an accused in the Baba Siddique murder case on Sunday said her son went to Pune for employment in a scrapyard and claimed she had no idea about his movement in Mumbai. She added that her son never picked up her calls and refused to comment on the ruling party leader’s killing.

“He went to Pune to work in a scrapyard. I knew only this. I was not aware of what he was doing in Mumbai…He came home in Holi. After that, he did not come. He was not talking to me even on calls so I cannot say anything about the incident. His age is around 18-19 years,” said the mother of an accused in the Baba Siddique murder case.