Baba Siddique’s shooter among six sentenced to life for Kaithal murder

Gurmel Singh was produced before the additional district and sessions judge through video-conferencing from Arthur Road Jail, Mumbai.

A Kaithal court sentenced six people, including one of the shooters of former Maharashtra minister and NCP leader Baba Siddique, to life imprisonment for the murder of a youngster in 2019.

A Kaithal court sentenced six people, including one of the shooters of former Maharashtra minister and NCP leader Baba Siddique, to life imprisonment for the murder of a youngster in 2019. (Representational photo)

Additional district and sessions judge, Kaithal, Nandita Kaushik on Tuesday sentenced Vicky, alias Sultan, Sandeep, alias Sunny, Raj Kumar and Ankit, who were all out on bail, and accused Gurmel Singh, alias Teli, who was produced through video-conferencing from Arthur Road Jail, Mumbai, and Ashok Kumar, alias Shoki, who is already in custody.

Baba Siddique, 66, was shot dead on October 12 outside his son Zeeshan Siddique’s office in Bandra East, Mumbai. He was declared dead after he was brought to Lilavati hospital with two gunshot wounds to his chest. All three assailants had ties to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang, which has notoriously been targeting Salman Khan after the actor allegedly hunted a blackbuck, an animal sacred to the Bishnoi community.

In his complaint regarding the Kaithal murder, Ram Kumar of Narad village in Kaithal district said that the incident occurred on May 31, 2019, when his son Sunil had gone to a temple in his car.

Five unidentified persons on two motorcycles blocked his path and forcibly pulled his son out of the car. They attacked his son with sharp-edged weapons, sticks and rods, due to which he sustained severe injuries and later died. Following the incident, a case was registered at the city police station.

During investigation, the police arrested Gurmel, Vicky, Ashok Kumar, all residents of Narad village; Ankit, Sandeep, and Rajkumar, all residents of Farsamajra village.

Twenty-nine witnesses recorded their statements during the trial.

In its 80-page judgment, the court found Gurmel, Ankit, Sandeep, Rajkumar, and Vicky guilty, sentencing them to life imprisonment along with a fine of ₹60,500 each, while Ashok was also sentenced to life imprisonment, but fined ₹70,500.