Baba Siddique’s shooters planned to murder Salman Khan but failed: Report

The accused in the murder of Baba Siddique had planned to kill Bollywood actor Salman Khan before targeting the NCP leader, reported India Today.

During questioning, one of the accused revealed that Salman Khan had been on the shooter’s hit list but was difficult to reach due to tight security arrangements.

Baba Siddique, 66, was shot dead on October 12 outside his son Zeeshan Siddique’s office in Bandra East, Mumbai. He was declared dead after he was brought to Lilavati hospital with two gunshot wounds to his chest.

All three assailants had ties to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, who have notoriously been targeting actor Salman Khan after the star allegedly hunted a blackbuck, an animal sacred to the Bishnoi community.

On April 14 this year, two bike-borne gunmen opened fire outside Salman Khan’s Bandra residence late at night. The shooters, Vicky Gupta and Sagar Pal, who were arrested in Gujarat, were also linked to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang.

Salman Khan has also faced threats apart from those claimed by the Bishnoi gang. In November a threat was made by a man claiming to be Lawrence Bishnoi’s brother, asking for an apology for killing a black buck or a pay-out of ₹5 crore.

In October, a vegetable seller from Jamshedpur was arrested for demanding a ransom of ₹5 crore. Soon after, Khan was issued a death threat, asking him to pray ₹2 crore as well.

Mumbai police also arrested a 20-year-old man from Noida in connection with a threatening call made to the actor.

In response to these threats, Salman Khan has been provided Y+ security and security arrangements around his residence have been strengthened.

AI-powered and high resolution CCTV cameras with facial recognition technology have also been installed around his house for increased security.