Shockwaves from a Mumbai gangland killing

There was a time when Mumbai saw shootings in broad daylight, when gangsters roamed free and took down opponents at will on the city’s streets. Some of that atmosphere appears to have returned with the killing on Dussehra night (Oct 12) in the tony suburb of Bandra of the controversial former Maharashtra Minister Baba Siddique, who was known for his close connections with Bollywood stars. Siddique, 66, was shot dead by people who came in a car, kept their faces covered with handkerchiefs, fired from close range at their target, and escaped. Police have called it the handiwork of contract killers. The gangland-style killing signals the power, reach, and contempt for law and order of a politician-builder-underworld nexus operating with impunity in Urbs Primus in Indus, as Mumbai is known.

Siddique was noted for his glamourous iftaar parties attended by Bollywood stars and for his closeness, particularly to film stars like Salman Khan and Sanjay Dutt, among others. He was more than just a former MLA, a former minister, or a representative of the Bandra West suburb, the area that is home to some of the biggest Bollywood film stars. A picture dating back to 2013 shows Baba Siddique, then of the Congress party, standing in between Salman Khan and Shahrukh Khan, beaming with one arm around each of the Bollywood celebrities.

A long-standing member of the Congress Party and a close associate of the respected star Sunil Dutt, Siddique left the party earlier this year in the wake of enforcement directorate investigations against him and joined the Nationalist Congress Party of the Ajit Pawar faction, which is currently in power in Maharashtra along with the BJP. The ED case never progressed after that. So, the man shot dead was a ruling party worker, with the killing coming in the midst of all the groundwork that is now being done by political parties for the upcoming Maharashtra elections. What is worse, Baba Siddique received a death threat a fortnight ago and was provided State security described as ‘Y’ category. The hitmen did their job despite all that.

The official story is that the killing is the handiwork of a gang led by Lawrence Bishnoi. The reason: Siddique’s reported closeness to Salman Khan, who allegedly hunted a blackbuck way back in 1998, which the Bishnoi community regards as holy. Shots were fired at Salman Khan’s home in April. One of the accused arrested in that shooting case, Anuj Thapan, later was said to have killed himself in police custody, adding a new twist to that case. Now, all of Salman Khan’s friends and associates are supposedly the targets of the Bishnoi gang. But the story has emerged with such speed after the killing that many questions remain, not the least significant of which is that Bishnoi is in custody in Gujarat. Further, the police made two quick arrests in the Siddique case the same night and have by now arrested one more accused. The third person arrested is the brother of the person who claimed the killing as a part of the Bishnoi gang.

Could the case be as simple as that?

Baba Siddique was also known for land and real estate connections, highlighting the role of builders in an emerging side of Mumbai that has changed the landscape and in many ways contributed to making the city an ugly concrete eyesore with high rises—some in faux gleam, even faux gold, and many left incomplete as prices fluctuate and the market for housing waxes and wanes. Most people who have invested in real estate have seen their investments not yield the eye-popping returns that housing projects were said to offer at one time. Yet, the attraction of land and its potential to yield returns is as alluring as ever in a city that remains the richest city of India. Besides, changing market conditions have also put pressure on builders and projects, many of which may have commitments to meet but could have turned less than viable in the evolving market for housing in Mumbai.

In some cases, politicians themselves are closely associated with land deals and builders, as Baba Siddiquie allegedly was, or politicians are builders themselves, like the BJP’s guardian minister for suburban Mumbai, Mangal Prabhat Lodha. Lodha and his real estate business group are probably single-handedly noted for their clout and for reshaping Mumbai, driving up prices, making it fit for the rich, and distinctly against the average or poor resident.

Baba Siddiqui was elected MLA from Bandra West; once known as the queen of suburbs, its charm is now dwindling with the onslaught of builders, given that this is seen as a prime area. Formerly simple people represented the constituency, an example of which is Sadanand Varde, a former education minister in the 1970s. Varde was a socialist and an economics lecturer at Bandra’s National College. Another representative, Salim Zakaria, a school teacher in the suburb, also became the state education minister. Another man from a humble background from Bandra was Ramdas Nayak, a leader of the Mumbai BJP from the days before the Modi-Shah leadership. He was shot dead in August 1994 by members of the Dawood Ibrahim gang at the age of 52, with a volley of bullets from an AK 47 rifle killing him and his bodyguard. Hill Road in Bandra, the main artery in the suburb, is now named in his memory. Nayak was the president of the Mumbai unit of the BJP and was a campaigner against corruption, having played a major role in exposing the cement scandal allegations against the former (Congress) Chief Minister A R Antulay. Nayak also stood up to some builders.

The picture now is very different. Quick fix solutions are on offer. Cases are deemed solved with ease. This will never allow the people or indeed the authorities to bring out the full magnitude of what really is going wrong, or who is pulling the strings, and what really is the motivation behind the wild west gangland killing that has returned to Mumbai.

(The writer is a senior journalist noted for his writings on urban transport, open spaces, and the rights of common citizens) (Syndicate: The Billion Press)