Baba Siddique's murder shocks all: Gangsters at work?

PTI Mumbai/Delhi: The murder of N C Pleader Baba Siddique in Mumbai's upscale Bandra triggered a fiery exchange between the opposition and BJP on Sunday even as a viral social media post claimed Lawrence Bishnoi gang's role behind the shocking crime. A court here remanded one of the two accused arrested in the case in police custody till October 21 and directed the cops to conduct a bone ossification test to determine the age of the second accused after he claimed to be a minor. Police told the court they wanted to probe if the case was the fallout of political rivalry since Maharashtra assembly polls are around the corner.

The Congress led the opposition attack demanding a thorough investigation into the ex-MLA's killing and said Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis should take moral responsibility for “law and order failure” and resign. The BJP slammed the opposition for indulging in "petty politics" over the murder. Siddique's party chief and Deputy CM Ajit Pawar said the murder should not be politicised. The 66-year-old former Maharashtra minister died soon after he was waylaid and shot at by three men at Kher Nagar in Bandra outside his MLA son Zeeshan Siddique's office on Saturday night. The Congress alleged that the BJP-led Mahayuti government in Maharashtra has failed to protect its own leaders and the people of Mumbai who feel scared, claim it was trying to postpone the election dates. “It is a Government that is on its last legs. With this, the countdown for its exit has begun,” Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on X.

One police constable was guarding Siddique when he was fatally shot, an official said, adding that two pistols and 28 live cartridges were recovered from the two accused – Gurmail Singh (23) and a youth from Uttar Pradesh. The youth from UP and the third accused are from the state's Bahraich district and have no criminal history there, police said. A team from the Special Cell of the Delhi Police would be sent to Mumbai to assist in the probe, sources said, even as a social media post claimed the involvement of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. Superstar Salman Khan was among several personalities who paid homage to Siddique.