Contract killing, business rivalry among angles being probed in Baba Siddique's killing
Mumbai (PTI): Police have launched a probe into the killing of former Maharashtra minister Baba Siddique from different angles, including a possible contract killing, business rivalry or threat over a slum rehabilitation project, officials said on Sunday.
The body of NCP leader Siddique (66), who was shot dead by three assailants in Mumbai on Saturday night, was shifted from Lilavati Hospital to Cooper Hospital around 6 am on Sunday for postmortem, an official said.
The shocking incident has prompted the opposition to question the law and order situation in the state where the assembly elections are expected to be held next month.
Baba Siddique 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.
He was shifted to the Lilavati Hospital's emergency medical services at 9.30 pm in an unresponsive condition with no pulse, no cardiac activity, no blood pressure, and with a history of gunshot wounds on the chest, officials from the medical facility said.
Siddique had lost a lot of blood and resuscitation was initiated immediately. He was shifted to the ICU where further attempts for revival were made. Despite all resuscitative efforts, doctors were unable to revive him and he was declared dead at 11.27 pm on Saturday, they said.
After the incident, a forensic team visited the crime spot and collected samples and police were checking CCTV footage of the nearby spots to get more information about the attack, a police official said.
The shooters opened four to five rounds of fire from a 9.9 MM pistol which was recovered by police, he said.
During the probe, police found the assailants fired at Siddique when people started bursting firecrackers during a Durga visarjan procession, a police official said.
They got advantage as most of the people did not hear the gunshots sound, the police said.
The case has been handed over to the crime branch for further probe and the police are investigating it from all different angles, including contract killing, business rivalry and threat over a Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA) project, the official said.
On the basis of primary information, two of the assailants, hailing from Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, have been taken into custody while another suspect is on the run, as per the police.
Baba Siddique had represented Bandra (West) seat three times in the assembly. A prominent Muslim leader from Mumbai, Siddique was also known be close to several Bollywood stars.
In a condolence message on X, deputy Chief Minister and NCP head Ajit Pawar described the attack as extremely unfortunate and condemnable.
"I was shocked on learning that he died in this incident," Pawar said, adding that he had lost a good friend and colleague.
"We have lost a leader who fought for the minority community and championed secularism," he said, adding that a thorough probe would be conducted into the attack.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde told reporters after the indent that Mumbai Police Commissioner Vivek Phansalkar had told him that two alleged shooters have been taken into custody.
One of them is from Uttar Pradesh and the other from Haryana, while a third accused fled from the spot, he said.
"This incident is deeply regrettable," Shinde said.
"We have directed the police to ensure no one takes law into their hands under any circumstances. We cannot allow any form of gang war to resurface in our city," he said.
The CM said stringent action will be taken against all those involved in the attack on Siddique.
"It is the duty of the Mumbai Police to maintain law and order. They are mobilising teams to apprehend the third suspect and will take decisive action against all the three individuals involved in this attack," he said.
Shinde reassured the people that the government is committed to ensuring safety and peace in Mumbai.
The assassination of Siddique is the first high-profile political murder in Mumbai in last three decades, which has left poll-bound Maharashtra in a shock.
A Congressman since his student days, Siddique quit the grand old party to join Ajit Pawar's NCP in February this year.
The former minister had a Y-category security.
In the early 90s, Ramdas Nayak and Premkumar Sharma, then sitting BJP MLAs from Bandra and Khetwadi, respectively, were shot dead.
Shiv Sena legislators Vitthal Chavan and Ramesh More were also gunned down in Mumbai in the 90s.
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Netanyahu recommends his Cabinet approve Hezbollah cease-fire proposal
Beirut, Nov 26: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that he would recommend his cabinet adopt a United States-brokered ceasefire agreement with Lebanon's Hezbollah, as Israeli warplanes struck across Lebanon, killing at least 23 people.
The Israeli military also issued a flurry of evacuation warnings — a sign it was aiming to inflict punishment on Hezbollah down to the final moments before any ceasefire takes hold. For the first time in the conflict, Israeli ground troops reached parts of Lebanon's Litani River, a focal point of the emerging deal.
In a televised statement, Netanyahu said he would present the ceasefire to Cabinet ministers later on Tuesday, setting the stage for an end to nearly 14 months of fighting.
Netanyahu said the vote was expected later Tuesday. It was not immediately clear when the ceasefire would go into effect, and the exact terms of the deal were not released. The deal does not affect Israel's war against Hamas in Gaza, which shows no signs of ending.
The evacuation warnings covered many areas, including parts of Beirut that previously have not been targeted. The warnings, coupled with fear that Israel was ratcheting up attacks before a ceasefire, sent residents fleeing. Traffic was gridlocked, and some cars had mattresses tied to them. Dozens of people, some wearing their pajamas, gathered in a central square, huddling under blankets or standing around fires as Israeli drones buzzed loudly overhead.
Hezbollah, meanwhile, kept up its rocket fire, triggering air raid sirens across northern Israel.
Lebanese officials have said Hezbollah also supports the deal. If approved by all sides, the deal would be a major step toward ending the Israel-Hezbollah war that has inflamed tensions across the region and raised fears of an even wider conflict between Israel and Hezbollah's patron, Iran.
The deal calls for a two-month initial halt in fighting and would require Hezbollah to end its armed presence in a broad swath of southern Lebanon, while Israeli troops would return to their side of the border. Thousands of Lebanese troops and UN peacekeepers would deploy in the south, and an international panel headed by the United States would monitor all sides' compliance.
But implementation remains a major question mark. Israel has demanded the right to act should Hezbollah violate its obligations. Lebanese officials have rejected writing that into the proposal. Israel's Defense Minister Israel Katz insisted on Tuesday that the military would strike Hezbollah if the U.N. peacekeeping force, known as UNIFIL, doesn't provide “effective enforcement” of the deal.
“If you don't act, we will act, and with great force,” Katz said, speaking with UN special envoy Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert.
The European Union's top diplomat, Josep Borrell, said Tuesday that Israel's security concerns had been addressed in the deal also brokered by France.
“There is not an excuse for not implementing a ceasefire. Otherwise, Lebanon will fall apart,” Borrell told reporters in Italy on the sidelines of a Group of Seven meeting. He said France would participate on the ceasefire implementation committee at Lebanon's request.
Bombardment of Beirut's southern suburbs continues
Even as Israeli, US, Lebanese and international officials have expressed growing optimism over a ceasefire, Israel has continued its campaign in Lebanon, which it says aims to cripple Hezbollah's military capabilities.
An Israeli strike on Tuesday levelled a residential building in the central Beirut district of Basta — the second time in recent days warplanes have hit the crowded area near the city's downtown. At least seven people were killed and 37 wounded, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry.
Three people were killed in a separate strike in Beirut and three in a strike on a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon. Lebanese state media said another 10 people were killed in the eastern Baalbek province. Israel says it targets Hezbollah fighters and their infrastructure.
Earlier, Israeli jets struck at least six buildings in Beirut's southern suburbs. One strike slammed near the country's only airport, sending plumes of smoke into the sky. The airport has continued to function despite its location on the Mediterranean coast next to the densely populated suburbs where many of Hezbollah's operations are based.
Israeli military spokesman Avichay Adraee issued evacuation warnings for 20 buildings in the suburbs, as well as a warning for the southern town of Naqoura where UNIFIL is headquartered.
UNIFIL spokesperson Andrea Tenenti told The Associated Press that peacekeepers will not evacuate.
Other strikes hit in the southern city of Tyre, where the Israeli military said it killed a local Hezbollah commander.
The Israeli military also said its ground troops clashed with Hezbollah forces and destroyed rocket launchers in the Slouqi area on the eastern end of the Litani River, a few kilometres from the Israeli border.
Previous ceasefire hopes were dashed
Under the ceasefire deal, Hezbollah would be required to move its forces north of the Litani, which in some places is about 30 kilometers (20 miles) north of the border.
A ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, the strongest Iranian-backed force in the region, would likely significantly calm regional tensions that have led to fears of a direct, all-out war between Israel and Iran. It's not clear how the ceasefire will affect the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. Hezbollah had long insisted that it would not agree to a ceasefire until the war in Gaza ends, but it dropped that condition.
Hezbollah began firing into northern Israel, saying it was showing support for the Palestinians, a day after Hamas carried out its Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel, triggering the Gaza war. Israel returned fire on Hezbollah, and the two sides have been exchanging barrages ever since.
Israel escalated its campaign of bombardment in mid-September and later sent troops into Lebanon, vowing to put an end to Hezbollah fire so tens of thousands of evacuated Israelis could return to their homes.
More than 3,760 people have been killed by Israeli fire in Lebanon the past 13 months, many of them civilians, according to Lebanese health officials. The bombardment has driven 1.2 million people from their homes. Israel says it has killed more than 2,000 Hezbollah members.
Hezbollah fire has forced some 50,000 Israelis to evacuate in the country's north, and its rockets have reached as far south in Israel as Tel Aviv. At least 75 people have been killed, more than half of them civilians. More than 50 Israeli soldiers have died in the ground offensive in Lebanon.
After previous hopes for a ceasefire were dashed, U.S. officials cautioned that negotiations were not yet complete and noted there could be last-minute hitches that delay or destroy an agreement.
“Nothing is done until everything is done,” White House national security spokesman John Kirby said.
While the ceasefire proposal is expected to be approved if Netanyahu brings it to a vote in his security Cabinet, one hard-line member, National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, said he would oppose it. He said on X that a deal with Lebanon would be a “big mistake” and a “missed historic opportunity to eradicate Hezbollah.”
