Baba Siddique death: Accused were doing recce of NCP leader for some time, says Mumbai Police; case registered

NEW DELHI: The Mumbai Police has registered a case in connection to the killing of NCP leader Baba Siddiqui 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.

Siddique, a former Maharashtra minister and leader in Ajit Pawar's faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), was shot 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.

Both accused are being questioned by senior officers from Mumbai Crime Branch. As per the police, the accused were paid in advance for this work. "They had received arms delivery a few days ago. The accused have been questioned by Mumbai Crime Branch officials for the last eight hours," Mumbai Police said.

Meanwhile, 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."

Mumbai Police on Sunday morning shifted the body of slain NCP leader Baba Siddique from Lilavati Hospital to Cooper Hospital, where doctors will conduct the post-mortem examination. 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. Calling the incident "extremely unfortunate," CM Shinde told the media that two suspects have been arrested, with one still at large. According to the doctors at the hospital, Baba Siddique sustained two gunshot wounds to his chest before being brought to Mumbai's Lilavati Hospital for emergency treatment. (ANI)