Baba Siddique Shot Dead: Acclaimed political figure and former Mumbai MLA Baba Siddique was shot dead on Saturday night in a shocking incident outside his son’s office. Siddique, who had served as a three-time MLA from Bandra (East) and as a minister in the Maharashtra state government, had recently joined the Ajit Pawar-led faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) after parting ways with the Congress in February this year. Baba Siddique's son Zeeshan Siddique is currently the MLA from the Bandra (East) constituency.

The tragic incident occurred around 9:30 PM when three assailants on a motorcycle opened fire at Siddique. They fired four to five rounds of bullets from a 9.9 MM pistol. Baba Siddique was rushed to Lilavati Hospital in a critical condition, where doctors declared him dead. The shooters reportedly timed the attack with a durga idol procession so that the sound of the shots could be muffled by the noise of firecrackers. The police later recovered the pistol. 

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Baba Siddique Shot: Updates

- The police have apprehended two suspects allegedly involved in the shooting. They are reportedly from Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. The third assailant is at large and police have launched a search operation to discover his whereabouts.

- Baba Siddique’s body was sent for post-mortem to Mumbai's Cooper Hospital. However, according to the latest police updates, his son, Bandra East MLA Zeeshan Siddique, is withholding permission for the autopsy until the motive behind the incident is clear.

- Police was also trying to explore Lawrence Bishnoi angle in the NCP leader’s killing. As per the source, cited by NDTV, the killers admitted they were from the Bishnoi gang and had been doing recce of that area for nearly a month. Notably, Bollywood actor Salman Khan has also been threatened by the gang.

-According to the police, Baba Siddique received a death threat 15 days ago, prompting an upgrade in his security to the Y category. 

- The police was probing various angles, including contract killing and business rivalry. The leader was also under threat over his involvement in a slum rehabilitation project.

- Several high-profile politicians, including CM Eknath Shinde, Devendra Fadnavis, Ajit Pawar and Ramdas Athawale, visited Lilavati Hospital to meet the family of Baba Siddique.

- Bollywood actors, including Salman Khan, Shilpa Shetty and Zaheer Iqbal also visited the hospital to meet the NCP leader’s family.

- Baba Siddique served as minister of state for food and civil supplies, labour, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and consumer protection in the erstwhile Congress-NCP government in early 2000.

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- The politician was known for his grand Iftar parties, with prominent personalities from the film industry and politics as the attendees.