Bandra East MLA Zeeshan Siddique expressed his family’s urgent need for justice following the murder of his father, former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique, last week. He urged that his father’s death should not be politicized or forgotten.
In a Facebook post, he said: “My father laid down his life to protect and save the lives and abodes of poor innocent people. Today my family is broken but his death must not be politicised and definitely not go in vain. I NEED JUSTICE, MY FAMILY NEEDS JUSTICE!”
Baba Siddique, 66 years old, was shot outside his son’s office around 9:30 PM on Dussehra, October 13. According to the police, three men fired six bullets-four of which hit Siddique, one hitting an aide in the leg. He was taken to Lilavati Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
The authorities arrested the two shooters, Gurmail Baljit Singh from Haryana and Dharamraj Kashyap from Uttar Pradesh, soon after the incident. However, a third suspect is still on the run, Shiv Kumar Gautam.
Kashyap also claimed in the court that he was 17 years old, despite an Aadhar card to the contrary showing him as 19; however, a bone ossification test proved that he is no minor.
The suspects apparently work for gangster Lawrence Bishnoi serving a sentence in Gujarat’s Sabarmati jail. A post on social media-from one Shubuu Lonkar, reportedly affiliated to Bishnoi’s gang-surfaced with claims of responsibility for the murder. Police Sunday arrested Lonkar’s brother, Pravin in Pune and another suspect-23-year-old Harishkumar Balakram was detained the very next day for allegedly being party to the conspiracy.
Baba Siddique was a three-term MLA for Bandra West. He had been Congress loyalist for 48 years when he switched allegiance to Ajit Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in February this year. His son Zeeshan was expelled from the Congress in August. The murder has come ahead of the Maharashtra Assembly polls; with the opposition pillorying the Eknath Shinde-led BJP-NCP-Shiv Sena coalition on the law-and-order situation in the state.
Here is the NCP president’s statement: “The decaying law and order situation in the state is a cause of concern. It is sad that former state minister Baba Siddique was shot dead in country’s financial capital Mumbai. Be it the Home minister or the rulers. If they will take the vehicle of the state ahead with such leniency, it can be a warning sign for the common people. This needs not only an investigation, but the rulers must answer and quit their job. My heartiest tributes to Baba Siddique and condolences to his family.
The Chief Minister Shinde reacted by blaming the deterioration in law and order to opposition coalition and assured that whoever brought the death of Siddique would be brought to book.