Baba Siddique was killed on 12 October as he left his son’s office; the latter is a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Maharashtra, where voters will go to the polls on 20 November. The investigation suggests that behind the killing is the Bishnoi gang, which has been accused by Canada of killing Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on behalf of the Indian government. The group has a track record of threatening Bollywood stars for killing blackbucks, sacred to their community.

New Delhi (AsiaNews) – On 12 October, Baba Siddique, a politician in the state of Maharashtra, was shot as he left the office of his son, also a state legislator, and died in hospital a few hours later.

For Indians the story revived memories going back 30 years, when the killing of politicians and celebrities by Mumbai's criminal gangs were much more common.

One of the suspects is Lawrence Bishnoi, 31, held in a maximum security prison in Gujarat since 2015, but still head of an organisation that was recently accused by Canada of helping the Indian government eliminate Sikh activist Hardeep Singh Nijjar, who was murdered in June last year.

Police have arrested four people so far, aged 19 to 23: the two alleged murderers, Gurmail Baljit Singh, a resident of Haryana, and Dharmaraj Rajesh Kashyap, originally from Uttar Pradesh; Harishkumar Balakram Nisad, 23; and Pravin Lonkar, originally from the city of Pune, brother of Shubham Lonkar, who, according to investigators, first wrote on Facebook that Lawrence Bishnoi's gang was behind Siddique's murder.

According to the reconstruction by Mumbai police, the Lonkar brothers handed over 50,000 rupees to the two gunmen, through Nisad.

Shubham, who ran a dairy in Pune, was arrested in January for illegal possession of weapons (police seized more than ten items); during interrogations, he revealed that he was in contact with Lawrence Bishnoi's brother, Anmol.

Granted bail, Shubham went to ground on 24 September, after which Mumbai police issued an arrest warrant against him and three other individuals.

The question is why did the killers target Baba Siddique? Born in the state of Bihar, he moved to Mumbai with his father, a watchmaker by trade, at the age of five.

He began his political career in the 1980s as a student leader in the Indian National Congress (INC), now in the opposition, and was appointed minister in the state of Maharashtra in 2004.

Last February, he left the INC to join a faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) which, together with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and part of the Shiv Sena (SS) party, governs the state.

However, Siddique, a Muslim, was known less for his political activity than for the lavish parties he threw at his home to break the fast during the month of Ramadan, which often saw  Bollywood celebrities in attendance.

One of India's most successful actors, Salman Khan, was often present. The son of a Muslim father and a Hindu mother, he always refused to identify with either religion, saying that he had grown up in both.

Bishnoi went after Khan for killing two blackbucks[*] in 1998. In 2018, Khan was sentenced to five years in prison for poaching and is currently on probation pending his appeal before the Rajasthan High Court.

The Bishnoi community, concentrated mainly in the Rajasthan desert, follows the teachings of Guru Maharaj Jambaji, a Hindu who drew up a series of religious precepts in 1485 for the protection of nature.

The Bishnoi have been called "eco-warriors" for their efforts to protect the environment.

Guru Jambaji’s teachings include the veneration of blackbucks and the hymn: "If you are showing your power on animals, your end time will be painful.”

Some BJP officials suggested that Khan apologise to the Bishnoi community for hurting their religious feelings.

In reality, Lawrence Bishnoi's group has been involved in mafia-style activities since its origins, especially extortion of celebrities, drugs smuggling, and weapons trafficking.

It is not clear, however, how Bishnoi manages to coordinate from prison the operations of his gang, which, according to some estimates, has 700 members in Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, and Delhi.

Reports by the local media are based on brief police statements. Some issues remain a mystery. India authorities believe that some members of the gang operate from Canada.

In response to recent accusations by Canada, India said it had repeatedly asked Canadian authorities to extradite some Indian nationals allegedly involved with Bishnoi's group, including Lawrence's right-hand man, Goldy Brar.

Salman Khan's personal protection has been beefed up after Mumbai police received new threatening messages this morning demanding payment of 50 million rupees to end the matter.

Siddique had also boosted security measures after receiving death threats. Now his murder complicates state election in Maharashtra, where 96 million voters are called to cast their ballot on 20 November.

Over the past five years, the ruling Mahayuti alliance and the opposition Maha Vikas Achadi, which includes the INC and the factions of the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party that have not joined the BJP, have been at loggerheads several times.

In 2019, the ultranationalist BJP won 105 seats, followed by the Shiv Sena, at the time undivided, with 56 seats, and its only ally, while the NCP (also still undivided) took 54 seats and the INC, its ally, 44.

Given the results, the Shiv Sena left the BJP to form a coalition government with the other parties, the Maha Vikas Aghadi. The administration collapsed in 2022 due to internal divisions.

In June's Lok Sabha (Union lower house) elections, the Maha Vikas Aghadi won 30 of Maharashtra's 48 seats.

The state election commission already announced that political violence would not be tolerated. Meanwhile, Siddique's son, Zeeshan, a member of the INC, asked not to politicise his father's death.

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[*] Antilope cervicapra, also known as Indian antelope.

• india
• maharashtra
• legislative assembly
• state elections
• lawrence bishnoi
• baba siddique
• canada