Baba Siddique murder: Shooters failed 10 times in assassination attempt before fatal strike

The suspected shooters of NCP politician and former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique, who was killed outside his son MLA Zeeshan’s office on Saturday, had attempted to kill him over ten times in and around Bandra in the past month, according to police, reported TOI.

“They were told to kill Siddique near his son’s office in Kherwadi since it’s an open area,” said a senior police officer. “They did not get a chance to open fire on him on those occasions because of various reasons. At times, Siddique didn’t turn up, and when he did, they were forced to abandon the plan because he was surrounded by too many of his supporters.”

Police arrested another suspect, Harishkumar Nishad (24), in Kaisarganj, UP on Tuesday. He has been remanded in police custody until October 21. Three others had been arrested earlier: alleged shooters Gurmail Singh (23) and Dharmaraj Kashyap (21), along with milk dairy owner Praveen Lonkar.


Praveen is the brother of Shubham Lonkar, whose social media post linked Siddique’s murder to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. Nishad previously operated a scrap shop in Pune, which has been closed for over two weeks, according to the owner. This shop was adjacent to Praveen’s dairy.

Police have seized a motorcycle purchased by Nishad that was allegedly used for reconnaissance, according to the TOI report.

“Praveen gave Rs 60,000 to Nishad to buy a second-hand bike. Nishad rode this bike from Pune to Mumbai and handed it over to the shooters near their rented room in Kurla. The shooters used the bike for carrying out recce of Siddique,” stated another senior officer. The shooters reportedly used the bike to scout Siddique.

Moreover, officials revealed on Wednesday that the shooters learned to handle firearms by watching YouTube videos, noted another TOI report.

According to the Mumbai police's crime branch, which is investigating the case, suspected shooter Shivkumar Gautam, who is currently on the run, initially learned about firearm handling during celebratory firings at weddings in Uttar Pradesh.