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Shehzeen Ziauddin Siddique, widow of former Maharashtra Minister Baba Siddique, who was shot dead in Bandra East on October 12, 2024, has moved the Bombay High Court seeking a fresh investigation into the murder. Ms. Siddique, in her petition, has demanded that the probe be handed over to a court-monitored Special Investigation Team (SIT), or alternatively, to an independent officer or police agency from another State.
The current investigation by Mumbai Police is “biased, tainted and incomplete,” and has deliberately avoided probing the role of politically connected builders involved in slum redevelopment projects, the petition alleged. “The entire investigation is a scene to create an impression that a laborious and deep investigation is done… but the nature of the same is like ‘digging a mountain and finding out a rat’,” it stated.
While the police have named Anmol Bishnoi, brother of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, as the alleged mastermind, Ms. Siddique contested this claim. She argued that Bishnoi’s role is being used to deflect attention from the real culprits. “It is not acceptable and convincing that he would be eliminated for the given trifling reasons,” the petition read, adding that the charge-sheet “stops at Anmol Bishnoi without going to the root of the truth.”
The petition further alleged that the investigating officer, ACP Kishor Kumar Shinde, acted under political pressure and intentionally avoided interrogating key suspects.
Among those named in the petition are developers Mohit Kamboj, Prithvijeet Rajaram Chavan, Ashok Mundra, Nabil Patel, and others, alleged to be part of a builder lobby with strong political backing. It claimed that Baba Siddique was a “hurdle” to lucrative SRA projects in Bandra to Andheri and was eliminated for opposing them.
A WhatsApp message sent by Chavan to Baba Siddique on July 15, 2024, is cited as evidence of threat. The petition has quoted the message, forwarded by Mr. Siddique to his wife on July 29, “I wouldn’t want you to jeopardize Zeeshan’s political career for my project or my gains.”
The petition also documented repeated requests for enhanced security made by Baba Siddique and his son Zeeshan Siddique, then a sitting MLA, to the Commissioner of Police and then Chief Minister Eknath Shinde. These requests were allegedly ignored.
The petition said that Baba Siddique was due to be nominated as a Member of the Legislative Council (MILC), adding a political motive to the murder.
Following the murder, 26 people were arrested and booked under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). A charge-sheet running over 5,500 pages was filed in January 2025. However, Shehzeen Siddique alleged that the evidence is “voluminous but misleading,” and that her own statement as a key witness was never recorded.
The petition critiqued the charge-sheet for relying on inadmissible material, failing to conduct identification parades, mishandling voice samples, and improperly seizing mobile phones. It also alleges that the police were reluctant to pursue the extradition of Anmol Bishnoi, with the investigating officer reportedly stating orally that “they were not interested” in bringing him back.
The matter is expected to be heard by the High Court next week.
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