‘Baba Siddique’s murder planned 10 days after Salman Khan house firing’

The Mumbai Police has reportedly established a link between NCP leader Baba Siddique’s shooting and the firing incident outside Bollywood star Salman Khan’s residence. Mumbai Police’s Crime Branch sources told NDTV that the plan to kill Baba Siddique was made just 10 days after the shooting incident outside Khan’s residence on April 14.
Two men – Vicky Gupta and Sagar Pal – had opened fire while riding past the superstar’s Galaxy Apartments on a motorcycle on April 14. Gupta, in his bail plea, had claimed he was influenced by gangster Lawrence Bishnoi’s persona as depicted in electronic, print and social media, news agency PTI reported on October 18.
Sources told NDTV that following the firing incident, the Lawrence Bishnoi gang had planned to target people close to the actor. Baba Siddique, who was a close friend of Salman Khan, emerged as a prime target.
According to the report, the probe into the Baba Siddique murder case revealed the gang’s reliance on “dabba calling,” an illegal telephone exchange system, to coordinate the murder. Sources said the gang had established its own telecommunication hub.
“This network ensured real-time coordination during the crime while shielding the conspirators from police tracking,” the report added.
Anmol Bishnoi, brother of the jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, allegedly used this system extensively to instruct key accused, including Shiva Kumar, Zeeshan Akhtar, Shubham Lonkar, and Sujit Singh.
Former Maharashtra minister and NCP leader Baba Siddique (66) was shot dead by three gunmen near his MLA son Zeeshan Siddique’s office in Mumbai’s Bandra area on October 12.
Shiva Kumar Gautam, the alleged main shooter in the Baba Siddique murder, remained at the spot for 20 minutes after the NCP leader was gunned down on October 12, an official told PTI on Thursday. He changed his clothes and returned to the spot, the official added.
“He had thrown a bag carrying his shirt, pistol and his Aadhaar card at the spot. After the shooting, he found people were in panic and a large number of policemen had arrived. He also observed police were asking bystanders for leads on the perpetrators,” the official said.
Shiva Kumar saw that two of his associates had been nabbed from the spot itself, the official said.