MUMBAI: Shehzeen Ziauddin Siddique, the widow of slain Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader and former minister Baba Siddique, on Friday moved a special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court seeking directions to the Mumbai police crime branch to secure the custody of alleged gangster Anmol Bishnoi.Baba Siddique was shot dead outside the office of his son, former MLA Zeeshan Siddique, in Mumbai’s Bandra East on October 12, 2024 (Hindustan Times)Though the charge-sheet filed by Mumbai police itself identified Anmol as the “wanted main accused” in the Baba Siddique murder case, the crime branch had failed to bring him before the trial court despite having the opportunity since November 2025, when the alleged gangster was deported from the United States and arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA), Shehzeen Siddique said in her plea.The application, filed before Special Judge Satyanarayan R Navander through advocates Trivankumar Karnani and Pradip Gharat, accused the crime branch of “lethargy and dereliction of duty”, and sought an explanation from the agency for not moving the trial court to obtain Anmol’s custody. Delaying the alleged gangster’s production would result in “duplication of the process of leading the evidence in the court and the multiplicity of proceedings”, besides wasting judicial time, the plea said.The court directed the state to file its reply to the plea and posted the matter for further hearing on July 10.Baba Siddique was shot dead outside the office of his son, former MLA Zeeshan Siddique, in Mumbai’s Bandra East on October 12, 2024. According to the Mumbai police, the murder was orchestrated by the gang led by incarcerated gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, with Anmol, his younger brother, issuing instructions from abroad.Anmol Bishnoi was deported from the US to India in November 2025 and arrested by the NIA in a separate case. He continues to be shown as a wanted accused in the Mumbai police charge-sheet in the Baba Siddique murder case. Earlier this week, Anmol moved the same court expressing his willingness to surrender in the case of firing at actor Salman Khan’s residence, saying that he wanted to face trial in India and had no objection to being taken into Mumbai police custody.Baba Siddique’s widow Shehzeen was earlier permitted to intervene in the MCOCA proceedings pertaining to her deceased husband’s murder. In the plea filed on Friday, she said the Siddique family learnt that Anmol had been detained by the US Department of Homeland Security in Iowa before being deported to India and had conveyed the information to the investigating officer. RTI applications filed by the family seeking details of steps taken to secure Anmol’s custody were rejected by the investigating officer and the appellate authority, the plea said.It further alleged that despite statements made by Zeeshan Siddique identifying persons who ought to have been questioned during investigation, the police had failed to interrogate them. Anmol’s interrogation is necessary because it “will lead to the exposure and disclosure of the roles of the persons” involved in the conspiracy behind the murder, the plea said.The plea also alleged that the investigating agency was adopting “evasive steps and procedures” and acting under “external pressures” by not bringing the “actual main culprits” on record.It noted that Shehzeen has separately approached the Bombay High Court through a writ petition seeking what she describes as a fair and proper investigation into the murder and to bring the remaining offenders to justice.