Baba Siddique Murdered Due To Political Rivalry? Here's What Mumbai Police Told Court

Mumbai: Mumbai Police told a local court on Sunday that it will have to investigate whether NCP leader Baba Siddique was killed due to political rivalry. 

While seeking the remand of accused Gurmail Singh from Haryana and Dharamraj Kashyap from Uttar Pradesh, police informed the court that they wish to investigate whether the case stems from political rivalry, especially with the Maharashtra assembly elections approaching.

Police To Probe Whether Baba Siddique Was Killed Due To Political Rivalry

Siddique, 66, was shot in the Nirmal Nagar area of Bandra East around 9:30 PM on Saturday and later succumbed to his injuries at Lilavati Hospital.

The police stated that 28 live bullets were recovered from the accused and that custodial interrogation is necessary to gather more details and prevent any future crimes.

According to police, ten teams have been formed to investigate the case, in which two persons are still wanted. 

The court remanded Singh to police custody until October 21, while ordering a bone ossification test for Kashyap to determine his age.

Second Accused Claims He Is Minor

The court instructed the police to present Kashyap again after the test, at which point it will be decided whether proceedings against him will occur in a regular court or a juvenile court.

During the remand hearing, Kashyap claimed he was 17 years old, asserting that he was a minor. However, the police presented an Aadhaar card indicating he was 21, and they noted they had not seized any additional documents to verify his age.

The court paused the proceedings and requested the prosecution to produce the Aadhaar card. The police provided a photo of the card taken from one of their officer's mobile phones.

The court asked the defense to confirm the accuracy of the Aadhaar card's details, to which the defense lawyer affirmed they were correct. However, it was noted that the photograph on the card did not belong to Kashyap. Nevertheless, the court continued with the remand hearing.

Siddique was a three-time Congress MLA from Bandra West assembly constituency, though he lost in 2014 and 2019.

A prominent Muslim leader of the metropolis, Siddique, who was also famous for his friendship with several Bollywood A-listers, recently joined the Ajit Pawar -led Nationalist Congress Party.