MUMBAI: A special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court on Tuesday rejected the bail pleas of two student-accused in the murder of former Nationalist Congress Party leader Baba Siddique, holding that the prosecution’s material disclosed “more than mere suspicion” of their involvement in an organised criminal conspiracy.
The orders were pronounced on the same day the court framed charges against all 27 accused in the case, formally clearing the decks for commencement of the trial.
Special Judge Satyanarayan R Navander, while rejecting the bail applications filed by Shivam Arvind Kohad and Karan Rahul Salve, underscored that the evidentiary record – including intercepted communications, call data records, recoveries from various accused and alleged logistical coordination – pointed pointed to sustained contact and concerted action consistent with a premeditated conspiracy.
The material, when viewed cumulatively, created a “real and reasonable apprehension” of Kohad and Salve’s involvement in planning and facilitating the attack, the judge observed.
Addressing a key defence argument, the court held that confessional statements recorded during investigation “cannot be brushed aside merely because they were recorded before charge-framing”; particularly when they were corroborated by independent material such as call records and recoveries.
The case pertains to the October 12, 2024 murder of Siddique outside his son and NCP leader Zeeshan Siddique’s office in Bandra East. The veteran politician was shot at close range and succumbed to his injuries the same day.
According to the prosecution, the killing was the outcome of a larger, premeditated conspiracy involving reconnaissance, logistical support and harbouring of shooters, and fugitive gangster Anmol Bishnoi was a key conspirator in the alleged syndicate behind the attack.
The court’s prima facie findings at the bail stage relied on what it described as interlinked material connecting the student-accused to other members of the alleged organised crime network. The applicants had failed to satisfy the stringent statutory threshold under the MCOCA, which requires the court to be satisfied on reasonable grounds to believe that the accused are not guilty before bail can be granted, the court said.
After rejecting the bail applications, the court also framed charges against all 27 accused in the case under the MCOCA, the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and allied provisions. All the accused pleaded not guilty when the charges were read out.
Among the 27 accused, only Akashdeep Karaj Singh from Punjab, is not in prison. He was granted bail by the Bombay High Court on Monday, after it found no prima facie link to the organised crime syndicate in his case.
With the framing of charges now complete, the trial is expected to proceed with the recording of prosecution evidence.