Siddique murder: Two accused from same UP village, have no criminal history

wo youths involved in the killing of Nationalist Congress Party leader Baba Siddique are from the same village in Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh.

Both of them were from regular families and had no criminal history, the police said on Sunday.

Baba Siddique (66), a former Maharashtra minister, was shot dead by three assailants in Mumbai on Saturday night.

Two of the accused, Dharmaraj Kashyap and Shiv Kumar alias Shiva Gautam, are residents of Gandara village in Bahraich.

Superintendent of police Vrinda Shukla said both of them were working at a scrap shop in Pune, Maharashtra.

They have no criminal history in Bahraich, he said.

Kaiserganj circle officer Anil Kumar Singh said, "Shiv Kumar had gone to Maharashtra a few years ago to work as a labourer and had invited Dharmaraj to join him."

Shiva's mother, Suman, expressed shock and disbelief at the allegations.

While speaking to the media, she described her son as a hardworking and peaceful person.

She said that he had gone to Pune to work at a scrap shop and had last visited the village during Holi.

"Policemen and media people have been coming and going since morning asking about Shiva. The police have questioned us too," she added.

Dharmaraj's mother Kusum said that he went to Pune to work as a scrap dealer. "When the police came to our house in the morning, we came to know that my son is involved in some case."

Though they have no criminal history in Bahraich, still, as a precaution, "the police are trying to gather information about both of them, superintendent of police Vrinda Shukla told mediapersons.

"They belong to normal families and both were in touch with their families. A police team visited their homes to find out whether they have any information about this incident or not," she added.

Head of the village Hasnain Kamal said that the villagers were unaware of the alleged involvement of the two men in the murder. "Both Shiva and Dharmaraj have no criminal history in the village and could be victims of a conspiracy," he said.

The Mumbai police has launched a probe into the killing of the former Maharashtra minister from different angles, including a possible contract killing, business rivalry or threat over a slum rehabilitation project, officials said on Sunday.

They were also verifying a social media post in which an alleged member of the Lawrence Bishnoi gang has taken responsibility for the murder, police said.

Baba Siddique (66) was waylaid by three men at Kher Nagar in Mumbai's Bandra area just outside his MLA son Zeeshan Siddique's office and shot at on Saturday night. He was taken to the Lilavati Hospital in Mumbai where he was declared dead.