News Brief
Nishtha Anushree
Oct 14, 2024, 04:26 PM | Updated 04:26 PM IST
Save & read from anywhere!
Bookmark stories for easy access on any device or the Swarajya app.
After veteran politician Baba Siddiqui was shot dead in Mumbai on Saturday (12 October) night, NDTV sources indicate that his son, Zeeshan Siddiqui, may also be targeted by the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.
According to police sources, the shooters revealed they had been contracted to assassinate both Baba Siddiqui and Zeeshan. They were reportedly instructed to kill the father and son together if possible.
However, they were ordered to eliminate whichever target they encountered first if failed to kill both. The three shooters ambushed Baba Siddiqui outside his son’s office, throwing chili powder at the police constable assigned to protect him.
Zeeshan Siddiqui, a Congress MLA from Vandre East, was expelled from the party a few months ago following allegations of cross-voting during the legislative council elections.
Two of the attackers, Gurmail Baljit Singh from Haryana and Dharmaraj Kashyap from Uttar Pradesh, were arrested, while the third, Shivkumar Gautam, managed to escape and was last spotted near Panvel.
Authorities have deployed multiple police teams across Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Delhi in pursuit of Shivkumar Gautam, while Mumbai Police's Anti-Extortion Cell leads the investigation.
In a related development, another individual, Pravin Lonkar, was arrested after allegedly posting on Facebook to claim responsibility for Baba Siddiqui’s murder. Pravin is the brother of Shubham Rameshwar Lonkar, an associate of the Bishnoi gang.
Further investigations revealed that the three suspects frequently traveled from Kurla, where they lived in a rented house, to Bandra in auto rickshaws to surveil locations regularly visited by Baba Siddiqui and his son, including their residence and office.
Nishtha Anushree is Senior Sub-editor at Swarajya. She tweets at @nishthaanushree.