'Do not politicise his death,' says MLA Zeeshan Siddique in first reaction since father's killing

"Today, my family is broken but his death must not be politicised and definitely not go in vain," Congress MLA Zeeshan Siddique said in a social media post.
Congress MLA Zeeshan Siddique
Congress MLA Zeeshan Siddique Photo | ANI
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MUMBAI: Congress MLA Zeeshan Siddique on Thursday said the killing of his father and NCP leader Baba Siddique should not be politicised and asserted his family needs justice.

Baba Siddique (66) was shot at in Nirmal Nagar in Mumbai's Bandra area on October 12 by three persons.

He succumbed to injuries at nearby Lilavati Hospital soon after.

In a post on X, Zeeshan Siddique said his father lost his life protecting and saving the lives and homes of poor innocent people.

"Today, my family is broken but his death must not be politicised and definitely not go in vain. I NEED JUSTICE, MY FAMILY NEEDS JUSTICE!" the Bandra East MLA said in his social media post.

Zeeshan had visited the Mumbai police headquarters today where he met Commissioner Vivek Phansalkar and discussed the ongoing investigation.

The Mumbai Police, probing the case have so far arrested four persons, including Haryana resident Gurmail Baljit Singh (23), Uttar Pradesh native Dharmaraj Rajesh Kashyap (19), both alleged shooters; Harishkumar Balakram Nisad (23), and “co-conspirator” and Shubham Lonkar's brother Pravin Lonkar, who hails from Pune.

The police also issued a look-out circular (LOC) against three accused, including main shooter Shivkumar Gautam, to prevent them from fleeing the country, an official said on Thursday.

Congress MLA Zeeshan Siddique
Baba Siddique murder: Shooters learnt to operate firearms through YouTube videos

The other two accused named in the LOC are the co-conspirator” Shubham Lonkar and suspected handler Mohammed Zeeshan Akhtar.

Crime branch teams of the Mumbai police have been sent to various parts of the country to nab the accused, the official said.

The LOC has been issued since the accused might attempt to flee the country.

As per the circular, all seaports and airports have been put on alert to apprehend them, he said.

A Mumbai police team will also visit Maharashtra's Akola district, where the Lonkar brothers' parents live, he said.

Police will speak to them to gather inputs about Shubham Lonkar's whereabouts.

It is suspected that it was Shubham Lonkar who wrote on Facebook that the Lawrence Bishnoi gang was behind Siddique's murder.

Comedian and Bigg Boss 17 winner Munawar Faruqui is also on the hit list of the Bishnoi gang, the official said.

Citing their investigation, the police official said the Lonkar brothers had given Rs 5 lakh in cash to the shooters through Nisad.

Shubham used to run a dairy in Pune.

He was arrested in January in an Arms Act case registered in Akola district, leading to the recovery of more than ten firearms, an official said.

Shubham's interrogation had shown that he had been communicating with gangster Lawrence Bishnoi's brother Anmol, police had said earlier.

After securing bail, Shubham became untraceable on September 24 despite being on police radar.

Gautam was hired as the “main shooter” as he knew how to operate guns, which he had learnt during celebratory firings at weddings, police had said earlier citing the interrogation of Singh and Kashyap.

It was Gautam who trained Kashyap and Singh in handling firearms at a rented house in Kurla, where they performed “dry practice” (shooting without bullets) for want of open space.

They learnt how to load and unload the weapon by watching YouTube videos for nearly four weeks.

The house was taken on lease with the help of an online portal, he said.

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