Mumbai: The Protection and Security Department of the Mumbai Police has dismissed a police constable from service for alleged negligence in duty during the attack on former minister and NCP leader Baba Siddique in 2024.
According to an official departmental order issued by the office of the Additional Commissioner of Police, Protection and Security, Head Constable Shyam Magan Sonawane (No. 990707) was deployed as the bodyguard of protected person Ziauddin Abdul Rahim Siddiqui alias Baba Siddique, 66, on October 12, 2024, when the attack took place in Bandra East.
The order stated that Sonawane was found irresponsible and negligent while performing his duty. Following the incident, a departmental inquiry was initiated against him, and he was suspended from service on October 18, 2024.
After completion of the inquiry, the department issued a show-cause notice on September 29, 2025, proposing the punishment of dismissal from service. Subsequently, an order implementing the punishment was issued on April 30, 2026. The document further stated that Constable Sonawane accepted the order on May 2, 2026.
According to police officials, only one police constable, Head Constable Sonawane, was accompanying Baba Siddique when he was attacked on the night of October 12, 2024, in Bandra East.
Siddique had been provided non-categorised security comprising three police constables working in shifts.
Police sources had earlier stated that Baba Siddique had a “2+1” security arrangement, with two personnel deployed during the day and one at night. One security police had reportedly left around 8.30 pm, leaving Sonawane alone with Siddique at the time of the attack, which occurred around 9.30 pm.
The accompanying constable allegedly failed to retaliate or take immediate action against the attackers. During questioning, Sonawane reportedly told the senior police officers that he could not immediately identify the assailants because firecrackers were being burst in the area due to Dussehra celebrations. Several processions were underway in the locality at the time, creating chaos and loud noise in the area.
There is no official confirmation from the Mumbai Police that any private security guards or bouncers were accompanying Baba Siddique at the time of the attack. Police officials have consistently maintained that only one police constable was present with him when the shooting took place.
On October 12, 2024, Baba Siddique was shot outside the office of his then MLA son in Mumbai’s Nirmal Nagar area. He sustained gunshot injuries to the chest and was rushed to Lilavati Hospital, where he later succumbed to his injuries.
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