Bandra no longer safe, says Zeeshan Siddique

MUMBAI: “There is a huge difference in the Bandra I was born in and Bandra today. Bandra is no longer safe,’’ says Zeeshan Siddique, son of NCP leader and former minister Baba Siddique, who was gunned down on a busy street in Bandra East in October last year.

Zeeshan, a former Bandra East MLA, has publicly expressed his displeasure at the police for ignoring what he believes is a convincing motive for his father’s murder. After the attack on actor Saif Ali Khan by a suspected intruder at his home in Bandra West on Thursday, Zeeshan has blamed the police for a failure of law enforcement in the city.

Bandra has witnessed three major crimes in the recent past – the murder of Baba Siddiqui in Bandra East, the firing on actor Salman Khan’s apartment in Bandra West, and the attack on Saif Ali Khan, also in Bandra West.

Baba Siddique was shot dead not far from Zeeshan’s office, allegedly by the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. It was initially suggested that his murder may have been the fallout of a slum redevelopment project Siddique was opposing. According to Zeeshan, this is the reason his father was killed.

The police, however, have omitted this angle in the chargesheet. “I have provided the Mumbai police the names of builders,’’ Zeeshan says, adding that he has also provided supporting evidence.

“People are losing faith in the police,” remarks Zeeshan, who has also discussed his father’s murder with chief minister Devendra Fadnavis. He claims that Fadnavis had told him that Baba Siddiqui was a close friend and he would question the police.