Baba Siddique murder: Shooters claim Lawrence Bishnoi gang link, say sources

Mumbai, Oct 13 (IANS) The two suspects arrested in the killing of NCP leader and former Maharashtra Minister Baba Siddique have claimed they belong to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, sources have said. 

However, this was yet to be verified by the police.

Sources said that the Mumbai Police were also investigating the possible involvement of the gang.

Baba Siddique, 66, a prominent Muslim face from the Ajit Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) was shot dead in Bandra on Saturday night near his son's office.

He was a former three-time MLA from Bandra West and had switched to the NCP from Congress in February.

Siddique shared a close association with Bollywood actor Salman Khan, who has repeatedly faced threats from the Lawrence Bishnoi gang and associates. On April 14, two shooters fired five rounds outside Salman Khan's Galaxy Apartment in Bandra. Mumbai Police in a charge sheet said the jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi had links with shooters.

The shooting was carried out by three men. Two men -- Gurmail Baljit Singh, 23, from Haryana and Dharamraj Kashyap, 19, from Uttar Pradesh - were arrested while the third fled.

The two arrested suspects claimed during interrogation that they had been conducting a recce of the shooting spot in Bandra East for nearly a month, said sources.

The three accused arrived there in an auto rickshaw and waited for a while before firing.

Sources also said that the police were probing the case from two angles -- one involving the Bishnoi gang and another related to a slum rehabilitation case.

Further details and official confirmation were awaited.

Sources also said that Siddique had never reported any threat from the Bishnoi gang.

Lawrence Bishnoi, who faces dozens of criminal cases, is currently lodged in a jail in Gujarat.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said on Saturday that the trial of the murder case will take place in the fast-track court and encounter specialist Daya Nayak will investigate the incident.

He further said the Mumbai Police have been directed to maintain law and order and they should see that nobody takes law and order into their hands. "Gang war should not revive. Strict action should be taken against those indulging in such incidents."

--IANS

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