Chief minister Eknath Shinde has given the order of state funeral to NCP leader Baba Siddiqui since he was former minister in the government from 2004-2008. Siddique served as the Maharashtra Minister of State for Food & Civil Supplies, Labour, FDA, and Consumer Protection in the Congress-NCP government. Baba Siddique was shot dead between 9:15 pm and 9:30 pm on Saturday near Zeeshan, his son's office in Bandra East. Two men - 23-year-old Gurmail Baljit Singh from Haryana and 19-year-old Dharamraj Rajesh Kashyap from Uttar Pradesh - were arrested while the third remains on the run. Mumbai police have sought the help of Haryana and UP police for details on the two arrested accused.
The three accused received weapons a few days before the planned shooting through a human courier, according to the sources. The three shooters have been living in a rented house in Kurla for the past two months, for ₹ 14,000 per month. Reportedly, the shooters were paid ₹ 3 lakh in advance, to execute the murder. The money was to be divided between four people who took the contract for the murder. During their interrogation by the Mumbai Police Crime Branch, which lasted for seven hours, the two arrested suspects claimed they had been conducting a recce of the shooting spot in Bandra East for nearly a month, said sources. They also recced Mr Siddique's home and office much in advance.
At least six bullets were fired at Mr Siddique near his son Zeeshan's office and four hit him in the chest. Three men carried out the shooting during Dussehra festivities. Two days before his shocking murder, Baba Siddique had posted a heartfelt tribute on Instagram, honouring the late industrialist Ratan Tata, who died on October 9 at age 86. In his post, Mr Siddique described Ratan Tata's death as the "End of an Era."