Baba Siddique : CM Eknath Shinde instructs state funeral for NCP leader
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Baba Siddique was shot dead on Saturday night by three unidentified attackers in Mumbai.
Baba Siddique was attacked outside his MLA son Zeeshan Siddiqui’s office near Colgate ground in Nirmal Nagar. According to the police, the attackers fired two to three rounds at him.
The former state minister was rushed to Lilavati Hospital, where he succumbed to his injuries. His funeral will be held with full state honours at Bada Kabrastan in Mumbai today at 8:30 pm.
Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde said that two people have been arrested by the police in connection with the shooting. “This is an extremely unfortunate incident and I spoke to the doctors and police. Two people have been arrested, the accused are from UP and Haryana. The third accused is absconding,” Shinde says.
The accused have been identified as Gurmail Singha and Dharamraj Kashyap. The Mumbai police is also looking into the possibility of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi’s involvement in the murder.
Delhi police has deployed a special investigation team to aid in the investigation due to suspected gang involvement. Forensic teams are currently looking into the crime scene and a post-mortem examination of the body is being conducted at Cooper hospital.
“We have given instructions to Mumbai Police that strict action should be taken against those who take law and order into their hands…I am sure that Mumbai police will soon arrest the third accused…Strict action will be taken against the accused…”
According to the police, Siddique Baba had received a threat to his life 15 days ago, after which his security was beefed up to the Y category.
Several Opposition leaders expressed concern over Siddique’s killing, alleging of a complete collapse in the law and order in Maharashtra.
Who was Baba Siddique ?
-Baba Siddique had recently joined the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), led by Ajit Pawar, after resigning from the Congress party earlier this year.
-Baba Siddique was a three-time MLA from the Bandra West assembly constituency, but lost the 2014 Maharashtra assembly polls to Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Ashish Shelar.
-He also served as a Municipal Corporator for two consecutive terms from 1992 to 1997.
-During the Congress-NCP government in early 2000, Baba Siddique held positions such as minister of state for food & civil supplies, labour, food and drug administration (FDA) and consumer protection.