Within days, two prominent leaders of the Nationalist Congress Party, Sachin Kurmi and Baba Siddiqui, were murdered in Maharashtra, leaving the law and order situation in Mumbai in dire straits. On October 5, Byculla Assembly constituency taluka president Sachin Kurmi, who was close to Chhagan Bhujbal, was killed with sharp weapons by three bike-borne assailants . Sachin Kurmi was attacked while returning home after attending a political event organized in East Byculla district. The attacker attacked his head, hands, chest and other body parts more than 10 times. The Mumbai Crime Branch has taken over the investigation into the case and three accused have been arrested.
The opposition has attacked the ruling Mahayutthi government over the Sachin Kurmi murder and is demanding the killers be brought to justice, just as Mumbai is rocked by the murder of another leader. On the evening of October 11, Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddiqui was shot dead by three people in Mumbai’s Bandra East area. He was buried with state honors at Badakalistan on Mumbai lines on Sunday evening. So far, the police have charged six people involved. Immediately after the incident, the police arrested two attackers, namely Gurmel Baljit Singh (23 years old), a resident of Kaital, Haryana, and Dara, a resident of Baraich, Uttar Pradesh. Dharamraj Rajesh Kashyap (19).
The duo was produced by the Mumbai Crime Branch before the Fort magistrate’s court on Sunday evening. Dharamraj Kashyap claimed in court that Khadu was a minor. The magistrate court sent Gumail to police custody for seven days till October 21 while allowing an ossification test to be conducted to ascertain Dharamraj’s actual age. Police completed his ossification tests on Sunday night and a report will be out in a day or two. If Dharamraj is proven to be an adult, the police will again produce him before the magistrate court and ask for detention or remand.
Police name Shibu Lonkar and Praveen Lonkar as accused
The third attacker, Shiv Kumar Gautam alias Shiva, is also a resident of Balaich and is currently absconding. DCP Dutta Nalawade of the Mumbai Crime Branch told a press conference that three assailants arrived outside the office of Zeeshan Siddiqui, son of Baba Siddiqui, carrying pepper spray. Their plan was to kill Baba Siddiqui after spraying him with pepper spray, but Shiva fired beforehand. According to DCP Nalawade, only Shiva fired the shot and Dharamraj Kashyap and Gurmel were also present.
​
The fourth accused was identified as Mohammad Jasin Akhtar, a resident of Patiala, Punjab. He has a criminal record and was released from Patiala jail on June 7 this year. In prison, he came into contact with followers of Lawrence Bishnoi. According to Mumbai crime branch sources, Jasin Akhtar also provided logistical support to Dharamraj, Shiva and Gurmel in the murder of Baba Siddiqui. The other two accused are Shibu Lonkar and Praveen Lonkar. Shibu Lonkar admitted responsibility for the massacre in a Facebook post, while Praveen Lonkar was his brother.
10 task forces of the Criminal Investigation Brigade are fully engaged in hunting down fugitives
According to the Mumbai Crime Branch, Praveen Lonkar’s dairy shop is located next to the brick shop where Dharamraj Kashyap and Shiv Kumar Gautam worked in Pune. Praveen Lonkar and his brother Shubu Lonkar jointly hired Shiv Kumar Gautam and Dharamraj Kashyap to commit the murder. Shubu Lonkar posted on Facebook that the Lawrence Bishnoi gang was responsible for the murder. He is currently on the run. DCP Dutta Nalawade said the Mumbai Crime Branch has formed 10 teams to nab the absconding accused. In addition, 15 teams are conducting investigations related to the case in other states.
The high-profile murder in the country’s financial capital has raised questions about the state of law and order. Maharashtra will hold assembly elections in the coming weeks. Following the murder of Baba Siddiqui, the opposition parties attacked the ruling Mahayutth government and demanded the resignation of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis. Mumbai police are investigating Siddiqui’s murder from various angles, including contract killing, business rivalry or enmity related to slum redevelopment projects. A special team of Delhi Police has also been sent to Mumbai to assist in the investigation, police sources said.
Who is Baba Siddiqui?
Baba Siddiqui was a former Maharashtra cabinet minister and served as MLA from Bandra East seat for three consecutive terms in 1999, 2004 and 2009. His son Zeeshan Siddiqui is currently the MLA from the seat. Siddiqui, 66, is a prominent Muslim leader in Mumbai with considerable influence in Bollywood. Siddiqui was close to many film stars including Salman Khan, Shah Rukh Khan and Sanjay Dutt. His iftar party is considered one of the high-profile events in Mumbai and is attended by big names from the film and political world.
Siddiqui is known to have been instrumental in brokering a reconciliation between Salman and Shah Rukh Khan after a fight at a club a few years ago. Baba Siddiqui invited them both to his iftar party and their friendship was reestablished. Baba Siddiqui
On April 14 this year, before the murder, two gunmen fired five shots outside Salman Khan’s Galaxy Apartment in Bandra. The attackers Vicky Gupta and Sagar Pal were arrested in Gujarat. The Mumbai police said in a chargesheet that the gunmen were linked to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. Salman Khan, who is close to Baba Siddiqui, has received several threats from the Bishnoi gang.
Mumbai police have also been questioned
The murders have come one after another, putting Mahayut’s government in a difficult position ahead of the Maharashtra elections. Opposition parties including the Shiv Sena (UBT), NCP (SP) and the Congress condemned the killings and criticized the Shinde government for failing to maintain law and order. Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole questioned the efficiency of the current government and said: “These killings show the decline of law enforcement agencies in the state.” If eminent political leaders are not safe, how can we ensure that ordinary Human safety? Political tensions in the state increased following these incidents. The murders of Sachip Kurmi and Baba Siddiqui not only exposed the weaknesses of the country’s security apparatus, but also raised questions about the Mumbai police.
