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Indian politician and former minister in the state of Maharashtra, Baba Siddique, was shot dead by three men in Mumbai's Bandra on Saturday (Oct 12). Police arrested two of the assailants, while the third is still on the run.

The two arrested assailants, identified as Karnail Singh from Haryana and Dharamraj Kashyap from Uttar Pradesh, claimed during interrogation that they belonged to the notorious Lawrence Bishnoi gang, according to media reports on Sunday. The third accused has been identified and will be arrested soon, said sources.  

A report by NDTV said that the police were probing the murder case from two angles, one involving the Bishnoi gang and the other related to a slum rehabilitation case.

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A viral Facebook post

Hours after the above claim, a Facebook post by a purported Lawrence Bishnoi gang member claimed that they targeted Siddique because of his close ties to Bollywood actor Salman Khan and the alleged links to underworld figures like Dawood Ibrahim.

However, the police are verifying the authenticity of this Facebook post. 

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Also read | Senior NCP leader Baba Siddique shot dead in Mumbai: 'Collapsed law and order'

Bishnoi has been involved in several high-profile cases, including the killing of rapper and Congress leader Sidhu Moosewala. Bishoi has also issued threats to Salman Khan.

Siddique, 66, was a leader of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)-Ajit Pawar faction. He was a member of the Congress and had resigned from the party earlier this year. He was known to be close to several Bollywood stars. 

The NDTV report further said that the involvement of the Bishnoi gang (in Baba Siddique's murder) was suspected due to the NCP leader's proximity to Salman Khan. 

However, Siddique did not report any threat from the Bishnoi gang in the past, the police said.

Siddique sustained two gunshot wounds

On Saturday, Siddique was attacked outside the office of his MLA son Zeeshan near the Colgate Ground in Nirmal Nagar, Bandra East. He was rushed to the Lilavati Hospital after the shooting for treatment.

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Doctors at the hospital told reporters that the 66-year-old sustained two gunshot wounds to his chest. Despite extensive resuscitative treatment, Siddique succumbed to injuries.

"Around 9.30 pm, Baba Siddique was brought here. When he arrived in the emergency room, his pulse and blood pressure were unrecordable, and the ECG showed a flat line. We shifted him to the ICU," Dr Jalil Parkar, a physician at the hospital, told the news agency ANI.

"He was declared dead around 11.27 pm. He had bullet wounds on his chest," Dr Parkar added.

The accused shooters had reportedly done the recce of Siddique's house and office premises and were in Mumbai since a few months to keep an eye on him. 

(With inputs from agencies)