MCOCA Court Denies Bail To Accused In Baba Siddique Murder Case, Cites Conspiracy Role

The special MCOCA court has refused to grant bail to Amol Gaikwad booked in connection with murder of NCP leader Baba Siddique observing
that his role is specific in hatching the conspiracy and harboring.
the shooters which are supported by the material on record.

Siddique, 66, was shot dead by three assailants outside his son
Zeeshan's office in Mumbai's Bandra (East) area on the night of
October 12, 2024. Gaikwad was arrested almost a year later in August,
2025. His lawyer while seeking bail claimed that his arrest was
illegal.

Gaikwad’s lawyer, SD Agarwal had further claimed that he had no prior
knowledge of the incident and has been falsely implicated merely
because of some acquaintance with the co-accused. It is further
submitted that the confessional statement of Gaikwad was extracted by
the Investigating Officer by subjecting him to pressure and threats
and therefore the confession is invalid.

Agarwal further argued that as per the CDR of Gaikwad’s mobile phone,
there were 12 calls exchanged between him and accused Pravin Lonkar.
However, in the absence of any other corroborative evidence, it cannot
be inferred that those calls pertained to the alleged offence, Agarwal
contended.

The special public prosecutor Mahesh Mule however, contended that the
specific role assigned to Gaikwad was to provide shelter to the
shooters after execution of the offence. It is submitted that there is
sufficient evidence on record showing his involvement right from the
inception of the conspiracy till harboring the shooters at Pune. It is
further submitted that Gaikwad is a member of the organised crime
syndicate, actively participated in the illegal activities of the
syndicate, and took part in the commission of the heinous offence. The
plea was also opposed by Siddique family’s lawyer Pradeep Gharat.

The prosecution had relied on Gaikwad’s confession statement
indicating that he was in contact with the main conspirator accused
Shubham Lonkar and co - accused Kiran Sutkar. Even prior to the
murder, Gaikwad was continuously in contact with the principal accused
and assured assistance in providing shelter to the shooters after
commission of the offence. Accordingly, he arranged a vehicle for the
shooters, transported them from Pune to Bangalore, and provided them
shelter, the court has noted.

The court considered this and noted that “When it is seen that the
Applicant was involved in the activities of the organised crime
syndicate, participated in commission of the offence, and became a
member of the syndicate, it cannot be said that he was not involved in
commission of the crime. His subsequent participation in harbouring
the shooters connects him with the conspiracy hatched for committing
the heinous offence.”

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