Last rites of NCP leader Baba Siddique to be performed with full state honours

NEW DELHI: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday announced that NCP leader Baba Siddique would be cremated with full state honours, who was shot dead in Mumbai.

According to the Chief Minister Office (CMO), Siddique will be given full state honours as he served as minister in the Maharashtra government during 2004-2008 and also as chairman of Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA).

Meanwhile, the Mumbai Crime Branch has registered a case at Nirmal Nagar Police Station in connection with the murder under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, Arms Act and Maharashtra Police Act.

The case has been registered at Nirmal Nagar Police Station under Crime Registration No. 589/2024, Sections 103(1), 109, 125, and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), along with Sections 3, 25, 5, and 27 of the Arms Act, and Section 37 and section 137 of the Maharashtra Police Act.

Delhi police will also send a special investigation team to Mumbai to investigate the murder of NCP leader Baba Siddiqui in Mumbai, according to the Delhi Police Special Cell sources. It is believed that a suspected gangster's motive behind the murder of Baba Siddiqui was to establish his influence in Mumbai, the sources added Siddique, a leader in Ajit Pawar's faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), was shot at near Nirmal Nagar in Bandra.

He later succumbed to his bullet injuries at Lilavati Hospital late Saturday night. The police have also revealed the identities of two arrested accused and made some shocking revelations about their planning. The two accused have been identified as Gurmail Singh, a native of Haryana and Dharamraj Kashyap from Uttar Pradesh.

According to the police, the accused were in Mumbai for some time and were keeping a close eye on Siddiqui. The police also mentioned that the accused had done recce of Baba Siddiqui's house and office premises and were in Mumbai for one and a half to two months and were keeping an eye on him.

"The search for the third accused is on and several teams of the Mumbai Crime Branch are investigating this case," the police mentioned. The NCP has cancelled all its programmes scheduled for today after the killing of Baba Siddique.

In a post on X, the NCP said, "Keeping in view the tragic death of our party colleague Baba Siddique, all party programs for 13th October, i.e. Sunday stand cancelled." Siddique, a three-time MLA from Bandra West, had joined Ajit Pawar's NCP earlier in February this year after resigning from the Congress. He was shot by unidentified assailants on Saturday evening.