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Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Monday, February 9, granted bail to Akashdeep Karaj Singh, an accused in the murder of Congress leader and former MLA Baba Siddique, making him the first person to get relief in the case.

A bench of Justice Neela Gokhale directed Singh, a resident of Punjab, not to leave Mumbai until the trial is over in the case.

Siddique (66) was shot dead by three assailants outside his son Zeeshan’s office in the Bandra East area on the night of October 12, 2024.

Singh (22), who was arrested in November 2024, is the first accused to have secured bail in the case.

The accused, in his bail plea, claimed he was implicated in the case and that the allegations levelled against him were baseless and vague.

Singh claimed that he is only accused of being a member of an organised crime syndicate, and no specific role has been attributed to him in the present case.

He also contended that the trial in the case would not start in the near future, and said incarceration without trial was violative of his fundamental rights.

In January this year, the police filed a chargesheet in the case, showing Anmol Bishnoi, brother of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, as a wanted accused.

According to the prosecution, Anmol Bishnoi hatched a conspiracy to kill Siddique to instil fear and dominance over the crime syndicate.

The police have arrested 26 people in the case and booked them under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). They are currently in judicial custody.