Raj Kanojia, the man who suffered a bullet injury in the leg on the day Baba Siddique was shot dead in Mumbai, rues the fact that he will be out of action for two months. This, he says, makes it difficult for him to contribute to his sister's wedding in February.
Six rounds were fired on Baba Siddique, two of which hit the former Maharashtra minister on the chest, outside his MLA son Zeeshan Siddique's office in Bandra between 9:15pm and 9:30pm on Saturday. A stray bullet hit the 22-year-old as he was returning from a fruit juice centre.
"Madad kya sir ab toh pair main goli lag gayi hai. February main shadi hai sister ki. Do mahine kuch kar nahi paayege hum (What help, sir. I have been shot in the leg. My sister's wedding is in February. I won't be able to do much," lamented Mr Kanojia, dressed in a white kurta, from his hospital bed.
"The atmosphere was such. It felt like crackers were being burst. I felt as if a cracker had exploded on my feet. When I checked, I found blood. Soon, chaos ensued. People started running everywhere. People shouted, there's been a firing, there's been a firing. Hobbling on one leg, I somehow reached the nearby temple. Some people took me inside and then I was taken to a hospital," said Mr Kanojia, fighting back tears.
The Mumbai Police suspects Baba Siddique was killed at the behest of gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, who is incarcerated in Gujarat jail.
Shooters Gurmail Baljit Singh and Dharmaraj Rajesh Kashyap were arrested the night of the crime. A third shooter, Shiv Kumar, managed to escape.
Two of the three alleged shooters in the case - Kumar and Kashyap - are from Gandara village in Bahraich in Uttar Pradesh. From poor families, both had moved to Pune from their village after Holi to earn money. When NDTV reached out to their families, they said they had no information about why and when they went to Mumbai. The third accused, Singh, is from Haryana.
Alleged shooter Shiv Kumar had taken to posting online content in recent months, flaunting his "gangster" status.
"Yaar tera gangster hai jaani (Your friend is a gangster)," Kumar had captioned his photo post on his Instagram on July 24. The photo showed him on a motorcycle as a Haryanvi song played in the background.
The third accused in the case - Pravin Lonkar - was produced in a Mumbai court which remanded him in police custody till October 21. He is accused of enlisting two of the three alleged shooters who opened fire at Baba Siddique, who had crossed over from Congress to Ajit Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party in February.
The cops added that they were on the lookout for Pravin's brother, Shubham Lonkar.
According to the police, Shubham Lonkar posted on social media that the Lawrence Bishnoi gang has taken responsibility for the murder. His brother Pravin gave shelter to both the arrested accused in Pune.
The Mumbai Police has set up 15 teams which have fanned out of Maharashtra in search for individuals linked to the high-profile murder.
A Mumbai police official said only one constable was accompanying Siddique when he was shot dead by three men who took cover of Dussehra fireworks to open fire.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, meanwhile, has assured that those responsible for Siddique's brutal murder will not escape justice.
