(MENAFN- Live Mint) In the Baba Siddiqui murder case, Mumbai Police said on Sunday that the two arrested suspects done recce of NCP leader's house and office.
The body of NCP leader Siddique (66), who was shot dead by three assailants in Mumbai on Saturday night, was moved from Lilavati Hospital to Cooper Hospital around 6 AM on Sunday for a post-mortem, according to an official.
According to the police, two arrested suspects are Karnail Singh from Haryana and Dharamraj Kashyap from Uttar Pradesh.
ANI reported, citing Mumbai police, that“The suspects conducted arecce of Siddiqui's house and office, having been in Mumbai for about one and a half to two months while monitoring him.”
Meanwhile, the search for a third suspect is ongoing, with multiple teams from the Mumbai Crime Branch actively investigating the case, according to Mumbai Police.
Senior officers from Mumbai Crime Branch are questioning both the arrested accused.
“The accused were paid in advance for this work. They had received arms delivery a few days ago. The accused have been questioned by Mumbai Crime Branch officials for the last 8 hours,” said Mumbai Police.
This shocking incident has raised concerns among the opposition, who are questioning the law and order situation in the state ahead of the upcoming assembly elections next month.
Baba Siddique, a prominent Muslim leader from Mumbai, had represented the Bandra (West) seat in the assembly three times and was well-known for his close ties to various Bollywood stars.
In a condolence message on X, Deputy Chief Minister and NCP head Ajit Pawar condemned the attack, calling it extremely unfortunate. "I was shocked to learn of his death in this incident," Pawar said, expressing that he had lost a good friend and colleague.
"We have lost a leader who fought for the minority community and championed secularism," he said, adding that a thorough probe would be conducted into the attack.
The assassination of Siddique marks the first high-profile political murder in Mumbai in the last three decades, leaving poll-bound Maharashtra in shock.
A Congressman since his student days, Siddique switched to Ajit Pawar's NCP in February of this year. The former minister had Y-category security.
In the early 1990s, sitting BJP MLAs Ramdas Nayak and Premkumar Sharma were shot dead, along with Shiv Sena legislators Vitthal Chavan and Ramesh More, who were also gunned down in Mumbai during that period.
(With inputs from agencies)
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