09 February,2026 04:09 PM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
Baba Siddique (66) was shot dead by three assailants outside his son Zeeshan Siddique’s office in 2024. File Pic
The Bombay High Court on Monday granted bail to Akashdeep Karaj Singh, an accused in the murder of former Maharashtra Minister Baba Siddique, making him the first person to receive bail in the high-profile case, reported the PTI.
A bench led by Justice Neela Gokhale directed Singh, a resident of Punjab, not to leave Mumbai until the trial in the case is completed.
Baba Siddique (66) was shot dead by three assailants outside his son Zeeshan Siddique's office in Bandra East on the night of October 12, 2024.
Singh, who is 22 years old, was arrested in November 2024. He is the first among the accused to secure bail in the case.
In his bail application, Singh claimed that he had been falsely implicated and that the allegations against him were vague and without substance.
The accused argued that he has only been charged with being a member of an organised crime syndicate and that no specific role in the murder has been attributed to him.
He also told the court that the trial is unlikely to begin in the near future and that continued detention without trial would violate his fundamental rights.
In January this year, Mumbai Police filed a chargesheet naming Anmol Bishnoi, the brother of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, as a wanted accused in the case.
According to the prosecution, Anmol Bishnoi planned the killing to create fear and establish dominance for the crime syndicate.
So far, 26 people have been arrested and booked under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). All the accused are currently in judicial custody.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) had in November last year arrested gangster Anmol Bishnoi, the brother and close aide of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, after he was deported from the United States to India.
According to the NIA, Anmol had been absconding since 2022 and was brought back to the country following coordinated action with international authorities.
In an official statement, the NIA had said that Anmol is the 19th accused to be arrested in the terror-gangster network allegedly operated by Lawrence Bishnoi and his associates. The agency stated that Anmol had been chargesheeted in March 2023 after investigations established that he had "actively aided designated individual terrorists Goldy Brar and Lawrence Bishnoi in the commission of various acts of terrorism in India between 2020 and 2023."
Anmol used his base in the United States to "run the syndicate's operations, direct terrorist activities, and coordinate with shooters on the ground" for the Bishnoi gang. The agency further said that he had "provided shelter, funding, and logistical support to the gang's operatives" and was also involved in "extortion activities in India from foreign soil with the help of other gangsters," the NIA had earlier stated.
(with PTI inputs)
