NCP chief Baba Siddiqui shot dead, two accused arrested, wires linked to UP-Haryana

Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddiqui was shot dead by three assailants in Mumbai's Bandra East area on Saturday night. Police officials said two people were immediately arrested after the incident which took place outside Baba Siddiqui's son and MLA Jeeshan Siddiqui's office near Colgate Maidan in Nirmal Nagar. Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said one of the shooters was from Uttar Pradesh, another from Haryana, and the third had fled the scene. In a condolence message on Twitter, Deputy Chief Minister and NCP chief Ajit Pawar termed the attack as extremely unfortunate and condemnable. Lost a good friend and colleague: Pawar said I was shocked to learn that Ajit Pawar died in the incident. He said he had lost a good friend and colleague. He said that we have lost a leader who fought for the minorities and advocated secularism. He said a serious investigation would be conducted into the attack. Two shooters are in custody, one is absconding, Mumbai Police Commissioner Vivek Bansalkar said two shooters have been arrested. Shortly after the incident, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis arrived at Lilavati Hospital. Fadnavis also has the charge of Home Affairs. Baba Siddiqui, a three-time MLA, recently defected from the Congress and joined the NCP (Ajit Pawar). Leaders of various parties condoled Baba Siddiqui's death and some leaders of opposition parties also expressed concern over the law and order situation in Maharashtra. These leaders expressed grief: Baba Siddiqui's close friend and NCP working president Praful Patel told him he had no words. Leader Ashok Chavan, who defected from the Congress and joined the BJP, said that both worked with Siddiqui when they were in the Congress. He said this news is shocking. In a post on X, Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala said he was shocked by the death of a dear friend from his Youth Congress days. NCP (Sharath Pawar) President Sarath Pawar has expressed concern over how bad the law and order situation is in Maharashtra. At the same time, former state home minister and NCP (SP) chief Anil Deshmukh and Congress leader and Assembly Opposition leader Vijay Vadetiwar criticized the Eknath Shinde government for the incident. Both the leaders said that the shooting of the Y Section leader was shocking.