The Mumbai Police has arrested two accused in connection with the murder of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique, who was shot dead on Friday. The two accused have been identified as Gurmail Singh, a resident of Haryana, and Dharamraj Kashyap from Uttar Pradesh. Both were reportedly in Mumbai, monitoring Siddique closely before the incident, according to police sources cited by news agency ANI.

The families of the accused persons have claimed that they were unaware of their sons’ activities and had no contact with them recently. Gurmail Singh’s mother stated that he had travelled to Pune for work in a scrapyard and that the family had no knowledge of his activities in Mumbai. “He went to Pune to work in a scrapyard. I knew only this… I was not aware of what he was doing in Mumbai. He had come home during Holi, and after that, he did not return. He was not even speaking to me on calls, so I cannot say anything about the incident. He is around 18 to 19 years old. He had just sent Rs 3,000 to me when my daughter was sick,” she told ANI.

#WATCH | Bahraich, UP | Baba Siddique murder case | Absconding accused Shiva’s mother says, “He went to Pune to work in a scrapyard. I knew only this. I was not aware of what he was doing in Mumbai…He came home in Holi. After that, he did not come. He was not talking to me even… pic.twitter.com/RpdoPqDwNf

— ANI (@ANI) October 13, 2024

Gurmail Singh’s grandmother, Phuli Devi, revealed the family’s disconnection from him, mentioning that she had not been in contact with him for three to four days. Speaking to ANI, she said, “He was my grandson, but now he is nothing to me anymore. He has not been in contact since the last three to four days and does not maintain contact.”

#WATCH | Kaithal, Haryana | Baba Siddique murder case | One of the accused Gurmail Singh’s grandmother says, “He was my grandson, but he is nothing to me now. He has not been in contact…” pic.twitter.com/hIQhP4S43j

— ANI (@ANI) October 13, 2024

Phuli Devi also told news agency PTI that Gurmail had been imprisoned for a murder case and was released on bail. Following his release, he had not contacted the family.

VIDEO | “Gurmail (Singh) must be 22-23 years old. He was in jail for four years. I have no information on how he got bail,” says the grandmother of Gurmail Singh who is accused in the murder case of NCP leader Baba Siddique.#BabaSiddique
(Full video available on PTI Videos -… pic.twitter.com/twrSYaoUUD

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) October 13, 2024

Similarly, the mother of the other accused, Dharamraj Kashyap, said that her son had left for Pune two months ago for work in a scrapyard and had contacted her only once since then. “Two months ago, he had gone to work in a scrapyard in Pune. He has contacted me only once since he had left. The police had come and they had informed me about him,” she explained.

#WATCH | Bahraich, UP | Baba Siddique murder case | One of the arrested accused Dharamraj Kashyap’s mother says, “Two months ago, he went to work in a scrapyard. He went to Pune. We have contacted only once since then…” pic.twitter.com/nS3TiP8hfc

— ANI (@ANI) October 13, 2024

The Mumbai Crime Branch has registered the case under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Arms Act, and Maharashtra Police Act. The case has been filed at Nirmal Nagar Police Station under Crime Registration No. 589/2024, encompassing Sections 103(1), 109, 125, and 3(5) of the BNS, along with Sections 3, 25, 5, and 27 of the Arms Act, and Sections 37 and 137 of the Maharashtra Police Act.