NCP cancels party programmes scheduled for today over killing of Siddique

After Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Baba Siddique was shot dead in Mumbai, the party has cancelled all its programmes scheduled for Sunday.

In a post on X, the NCP said, "Keeping in view the tragic death of our party colleague Baba Siddique, all party programs for 13th October, i.e. Sunday stand cancelled."

Siddique, a former Maharashtra minister and leader in Ajit Pawar's faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), was shot near Nirmal Nagar in Bandra. He later succumbed to his bullet injuries at Lilavati Hospital late Saturday night.

Mumbai Police on Sunday morning shifted the body of slain NCP leader Baba Siddique from Lilavati Hospital to Cooper Hospital, where doctors will conduct the post-mortem examination.

The body was kept at Lilavati Hospital, where a large number of people, including politicians and celebrities, gathered late into the night to meet Siddique's family and pay their respects.

Siddique, a three-time MLA from Bandra West, had joined Ajit Pawar's NCP earlier in February this year after resigning from the Congress. He was shot by unidentified assailants on Saturday evening.

Calling the incident "extremely unfortunate," CM Shinde told the media that two suspects have been arrested, with one still at large.

"This is an extremely unfortunate incident. I spoke with the doctors and the police. Two people have been arrested -- the accused are from Uttar Pradesh and Haryana. The third accused is absconding. We have instructed Mumbai Police to take strict action against those who take law and order into their hands," Shinde told reporters in Thane," CM Shinde told reporters a day earlier.

According to the doctors at the hospital, Baba Siddique sustained two gunshot wounds to his chest before being brought to Mumbai's Lilavati Hospital for emergency treatment.

Mumbai Additional CP Paramjit Singh Dahiya confirmed the arrest of two suspects.

"The incident occurred around 9:30 pm in Nirmal Nagar. Baba Siddique was taken to Lilavati Hospital after being shot. Two suspects have been arrested, and the Mumbai Crime Branch is investigating the case," Dahiya told reporters.

Mumbai Police said that they recovered the weapon used in the crime. "A 9.9mm pistol was used in the firing," officials said.