Baba Siddique murder accused claims he is a minor, court orders bone ossification

Two of the accused in the murder of NCP (Ajit Pawar) leader Baba Siddique were produced in a Magistrate’s Court on Sunday. While one of the accused, Gurmail Baljit Singh, 23, was sent to police custody till October 21, the court ordered a bone ossification test of the other accused, Dharamraj Rajesh Kashyap, after he claimed in court that he was 17-years-old.
A bone ossification test, which is performed to estimate a person’s age by examining X-rays of certain bones in the body, has been ordered to ascertain Kashyap’s age.
Both the accused were brought clad in a burqa and when Magistrate SC Tayde asked the accused their names and age, Kashyap said that he was 17.
Prosecutor Gautam Gaikwad, however, opposed this, saying that when the firing took place on Saturday night, an Aadhar card was recovered from the accused, that showed he was born on March 1, 2003.
Magistrate Tayde then directed that the Aadhaar card of the accused be handed over, which showed that the document carried Kashyap’s photo, but the name was of one Ranjan Kumar Gupta. The Magistrate directed Agarwal to file Kashyap’s thumb impression stating if the Aadhaar was his.
The court also said that the Mumbai Police should come up with relevant documents to prove Kashyap’s age.
Advocate Siddharth Agarwal, appearing for the two accused, argued that while he has instructions that Kashyap is a minor, if the prosecution has some documents to prove his age, then he would not press for the issue.
Agarwal added that the accused did not have any birth certificate or a school-leaving certificate to substantiate his age, submitting that Kashyap was ready to undergo a bone ossification test.
Meanwhile, Gaikwad sought a 14-day remand for the accused. The prosecutor alleged that the accused did recce and were provided logistical support before the crime took place.
“Where did they (the accused) get training for the firing? There were 28 live bullets found on the accused and not just to investigate the case but to prevent further crime is something that has to be looked into,” he added. Gaikwad also said that the prosecution was probing if the crime was due to any political rivalry.
He further added that, including Shiv Kumar, there are two accused who are on the run – the other being a person who provided logistical support to the three main accused.
The accused’s counsel, Advocate Agarwal, on the other hand, argued that while the incident was disheartening, whether the accused had actually done it had to be determined.
“The deceased was a famous political person, and it is possible that someone (else) would have done it and the accused are being implicated. The demand for 14-day custody is not justified”, Advocate Agarwal contended.
Baba Siddique was shot dead by three assailants while he was bursting crackers outside his office in Mumbai’s Bandra on the occasion of Dussehra on Saturday.