Baba Siddique’s murder case: Nine arrested, son calls for justice through cryptic message
New Delhi: The investigation into the murder of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Baba Siddique has intensified, with the number of arrests rising to nine. On Friday, his son, MLA Zeeshan Siddique, shared a cryptic message on X (formerly Twitter), prompting speculation about the ongoing situation.
On the same day, Zeeshan Siddique met with Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who also oversees the home department in the Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led government. During the meeting, Zeeshan was updated on the police investigation into his father's murder.
Following the meeting, Zeeshan expressed his desire for justice, urging that his father’s death should not be politicized or go unavenged. Baba Siddique was shot near Zeeshan's office in Nirmal Nagar, Bandra, Mumbai, on October 12.
The police have apprehended nine suspects so far, including five who were arrested on Friday during raids in Panvel and Karjat in the neighboring Raigad district.
Amid the ongoing investigation, a shooter linked to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang made controversial claims regarding Siddique’s character, suggesting he had ties to notorious criminal Dawood Ibrahim. Yogesh alias Raju, 26, affiliated with both the Lawrence Bishnoi and Hashim Baba gangs, stated, “Charges were against him under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). When individuals associate with people like Dawood, adverse outcomes are likely.”
In a related development, the Mumbai police have heightened security for Bollywood actor Salman Khan following threats received after Siddique's murder. Police reported that Khan received a demand for ₹5 crore, purportedly to resolve his conflicts with the incarcerated gangster Lawrence Bishnoi. The message ominously warned that failing to comply would lead to Khan's fate being "worse than Baba Siddique's."
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Supreme Court rejects plea for reverting to ballots in elections
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed a petition seeking to revert to ballot paper voting in elections in the country.
"What happens is, when you win the election, EVMs (electronic voting machine) are not tampered. When you lose the election, EVMs are tampered (with)," remarked a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and P B Varale.
Apart from ballot paper voting, the plea sought several directions including a directive to the Election Commission to disqualify candidates for a minimum of five years if found guilty of distributing money, liquor or other material inducement to the voters during polls.
When petitioner-in-person K A Paul said he filed the PIL, the bench said, "You have interesting PILs. How do you get these brilliant ideas?".
The petitioner said he is the president of an organisation which has rescued over three lakh orphans and 40 lakh widows.
"Why are you getting into this political arena? Your area of work is very different," the bench retorted.
After Paul revealed he had been to over 150 countries, the bench asked him whether each of the nations had ballot paper voting or used electronic voting.
The petitioner said foreign countries had adopted ballot paper voting and India should follow suit.
"Why you don't want to be different from the rest of the world?" asked the bench.
There was corruption and this year (2024) in June, the Election Commission announced they had seized Rs 9,000 crore, Paul responded.
"But how does that make your relief which you are claiming here relevant?" asked the bench, adding "if you shift back to physical ballot, will there be no corruption?".
Paul claimed CEO and co-founder of Tesla, Elon Musk, stated that EVMs could be tampered with and added TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, the current chief minister of Andhra Pradesh, and former state chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy had claimed EVMs could be tampered with.
"When Chandrababu Naidu lost, he said EVMs can be tampered with. Now this time, Jagan Mohan Reddy lost, he said EVMs can be tampered with," noted the bench.
When the petitioner said everybody knew money was distributed in elections, the bench remarked, "We never received any money for any elections."
The petitioner said another prayer in his plea was the formulation of a comprehensive framework to regulate the use of money and liquor during election campaigns and ensuring such practices were prohibited and punishable under the law.
The plea further sought a direction to mandate an extensive voter education campaign to raise awareness and importance of informed decision making.
"Today, 32 per cent educated people are not casting their votes. What a tragedy. If democracy will be dying like this and we will not be able to do anything then what will happen in the years to come in future," the petitioner said.
