Former Maharashtra Minister and Ajit Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Baba Siddique was shot dead allegedly by three men in Mumbai’s Bandra area on Saturday. The shooting took place outside his son Zeeshan Siddique’s office in Neelamnagar.
Shiv Kumar Gautam, one of the three main suspects, fired shots at Siddiqui while he was bursting crackers outside his office in Bandra on the occasion of Dussehra, according to the police.
Media reports, citing the police said that the three suspects were also carrying a pepper spray with them that they wanted to use on Siddique before shooting him. However, contrary to the plan, Shiv Kumar opened fire on the politician before they could use the spray on him.
On Saturday, three assailants came on a vehicle, with their faces covered with handkerchiefs reached near Baba Siddiqui's office. Before anyone could understand anything, Shiv Kumar opened fire on him with a 9.9 mm pistol. Police said that a total of six rounds were fired, one of which struck Siddique in the chest, causing him to collapse on the spot.
The Mumbai Police has formed 15 teams and several detectives have been fanned out to multiple locations in five states in search of the killers. The police are probing different angles, including a possible contract killing, business rivalry, personal disputes or threat over a slum rehabilitation project in Mumbai.
Two of the shooters - Gurmail Singh (23) from Haryana and Dharamraj Kashyap from Uttar Pradesh were caught by locals and police personnel. Singh was remanded to police custody till 21 October by a holiday Magistrate’s court. Kashyap claimed that he was a minor and hence the court ordered a bone ossification test to ascertain his age.
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