A Mumbai court on Monday extended till October 25 the police custody of four accused in the Baba Siddique murder case. The former MLA and NCP leader was shot at and grievously injured in Nirmal Nagar area in Bandra at around 9:30 pm on October 12. He died some time later at nearby Lilavati hospital. Haryana resident Gurmail Baljit Singh (23), Uttar Pradesh native Dharmaraj Kashyap (21), Harish Kumar Nisad (26) and Pune-based Pravin Lonkar (30) were produced before Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (Esplanade court) V R Patil on Monday at the end of their initial remand.
Police sought further remand saying the accused were not cooperating with the investigation and were giving misleading information. As per the prosecution, Singh and Kashyap, as well as wanted accused Shivkumar Gautam, fired at Siddique (66), while Pravin Lonkar's brother Shubham is allegedly associated with jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi. He and other wanted accused had conspired to carry out the shooting and had supplied arms to the gunmen, police said. Nisad, a scrap dealer in Pune, provided financial help for the operation, police said.
'My father was a lion who stood for justice'
Meanwhile, MLA Zeeshan Siddique, son of slain NCP leader Baba Siddique, has said his father's killers have "turned their sight" on him, but he can't be intimidated as he has the blood of a lion in his veins and carries his "roar". "They silenced my father. But they forget - he was a lion and I carry his roar within me, his fight in my veins. He stood for justice, fought for change and withstood the storms with unwavering courage," Bandra (East) MLA Zeeshan Siddique said in a post on X on Sunday.
"Now, those who brought him down turn their sights on me assuming they've won, to them I declare: The blood of a lion runs in my veins. I am still here, unafraid and unbroken. They took one, but I rise in his place. This fight is far from over. Today, I stand where he stood: ALIVE, RELENTLESS and READY. To my people of Vandre East, I am always with you (sic)," he added.
(With inputs from PTI)
