Mumbai Politician Baba Siddique Dies in Suspected Gang Attack

Baba Siddique was known for his close ties with several Indian celebrities, including popular Bollywood film actors Shahrukh Khan and Salman Khan.

Published October 25, 2024

Suspected gang members shot and killed long-time Indian politician Baba Siddique, a National Congress Party (NCP) leader and former member of Maharashtra state’s legislative assembly, in a popular Mumbai neighborhood on October 12, 2024. Siddique’s assassination comes just one month before Maharashtra is set to hold legislative elections, heightening fears about gang-based political violence in India. 

Three gunmen targeted Siddique as he visited his son, a fellow state politician, at the latter’s office in Bandra, Mumbai. Toward the end of the evening, Siddique exited the building and began to walk toward his car. As he prepared to enter the vehicle, bullets struck him in the chest and abdomen. Siddique died from his injuries later that night at Mumbai’s Lilavati Hospital. 

The killing shocked observers around the country, particularly given the warning signs prior to Siddique’s demise. Siddique received credible death threats as recently as two weeks before his eventual murder, leading police to increase his security detail to India’s “Y-category” level––a government-mandated security designation that requires escort by one to two commandos and six to seven armed police personnel. Siddique’s safety thus seemed assured, especially since security in wider Mumbai was already noticeably high; due to large-scale Hindu festivities for Dussehra, authorities had ramped up law enforcement across the city. Despite these measures, gunmen still managed to evade Siddique’s protection entourage by setting off firecrackers. The fumes created a smokescreen around Siddique, leaving him defenseless as the assailants opened fire.

Mumbai police arrested two out of three suspected shooters at the scene and have detained at least eight more alleged conspirators as of October 20. While the motives for the assassination remain under investigation, NDTV reports that one suspected shooter was receiving end-to-end encrypted instructions from affiliates of Lawrence Bishnoi, an infamous crime boss who operates the eponymous Lawrence Bishnoi gang (also known as the Lawrence Bishnoi-Hashim Baba gang). Citing unnamed sources, NDTV further writes that both suspected shooters have declared their membership in Bishnoi’s gang. While Mumbai officials have yet to verify the gang’s relationship with the accused, the Lawrence Bishnoi gang claimed responsibility for Siddique’s assassination through a Facebook post by Bishnoi’s presumed aide, Shubu Lonkar.

These revelations have reignited fears that the underground crime syndicate orchestrated Siddique’s death. The theory is not out of step with recent developments in India: Siddique’s death follows several other high-profile killings linked to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, including the murders of popular Punjabi rapper Sidhu Moose Wala in 2022 and pro-Khalistan separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar in Canada last year.

In his Facebook post, Lonkar hinted that the Lawrence Bishnoi gang had concrete reasons to target Siddique. First, according to Lonkar, the assassination was a form of retaliation against popular Bollywood actor Salman Khan. Lawrence Bishnoi himself has marked Khan––who was close friends with Siddique––for death, decrying the actor’s involvement in an illegal blackbuck hunt in 2005. 

Lonkar, along with another alleged gang member identified as “Yogesh,” also claimed that Baba Siddique had ties to India’s most-wanted gangster, Dawood Ibrahim. The accusations have brought Siddique’s profile under further scrutiny in the wake of his death. India’s federal financial crimes unit, the Enforcement Directorate, previously investigated Siddique over corruption allegations. 

Baba Siddique’s son, Zasheem Siddique, has denounced attempts to construe his father’s assassination for political purposes. Writing on X, formerly Twitter, on October 17, Zasheem Siddique said that his father died while advocating for India’s poor, framing the assassination in more personal terms.

“My father lost his life protecting and saving the lives and homes of poor innocent people. Today, my family is broken but his death must not be politicised and definitely not go in vain. I NEED JUSTICE, MY FAMILY NEEDS JUSTICE!” the younger Siddique stated.