Mumbai: The widow of former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique, shot dead in October last year, has moved Bombay High Court seeking setting up of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the case claiming police has failed to bring the real culprits to book.
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.
Shehzeen Siddique, in her plea filed through advocate Trivankumar Karnani, said the police has intentionally avoided to arrest the real culprits in the case and has claimed the killing was ordered by Anmol Bishnoi, brother of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi.
The plea is likely to be heard by HC next week.
Shehzeen Siddique in her plea alleged she has a strong suspicion about the involvement of the builder lobby and a political leader behind her husband's death.
"Siddique (Baba) always had the interest of slumdwellers and hence he was considered as a hurdle by several developers and builders in the area. This angle was never probed by the police," the plea alleged.
The suspected offenders have connections to the present ruling state government and, hence, the probe ought to be carried out by an independent investigating agency, the petition said.
It claimed that in July last year, Baba Siddique got a threatening message from one Prithvijeet Chavan following which the former sought restoration of his security cover.
His son Zeeshan Siddique, a sitting MLA at the time, also wrote a letter to then chief minister Eknath Shinde seeking additional Y+ security for his father, the plea said.
One Ashok Mundra, associate of Mohit Kamboj, had in August used derogatory language against Baba Siddique, it added.
In January this year, a chargesheet was filed by the police and in April an application was filed seeking permission to carry out further probe.
However, this application was withdrawn.
In June, Siddique's family members sought information about the steps taken by the government to secure the presence of Anmol Bishnoi in the case.
However, the information was refused to the family under the Right to Information Act. In August, they were informed that an extradition request has been sent by the Ministry of External Affairs to US authorities.
Anmol Bishnoi, brother of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, has been shown as a wanted accused in the chargesheet.
As per the prosecution, Anmol Bishnoi hatched a conspiracy to kill Siddique to instil fear and dominance over the crime syndicate.
As many as 26 arrested people have been chargesheeted in the case. All of them have been booked under Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) and are currently in judicial custody.
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