COP OUT!

Why is the police and intelligence apparatus in Mumbai not being held accountable for their brazen inefficiency before and after the Mumbai terror attacks?

Gajanan Khergamker Mumbai

Within a week of the terror attack, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) (Zone 1) Vishwas Nangre Patil, distributed CDs containing edited footage of the operation inside Hotel Taj. The footage was played across all TV channels, projecting Patil as a hero as almost every shot had Patil in the frame, running from one corner to another or taking cover to fire at terrorists. He went on to give interviews to the press, talking about how he kept the terrorists engaged for six hours before reinforcements were brought in.

In the next few days Ratan Tata expressed displeasure over the conduct of the police. He is said to have spoken to the Maharashtra Director General of Police (DGP) and Mumbai Commissioner of Police (CP), objecting to the manner in which the DCP publicised the footage. Tata pointed out that the footage, captured by the hotel's CCTV cameras, was given to the police to help in their investigations, and not for publicity.

Patil's action didn't go down well with his seniors and other officers who were part of the operation. While both the CP and the DGP have taken strong objection to Patil's conduct, the department is tightlipped as it has turned out to be a major embarrassment for the force.

facts convoluted: For days on end, the Mumbai police complained that had they been provided with better fire-arms, they would have been able to resist the terrorists better. Apparently, they fought terrorists armed with AK-47s only with .303 pistols and lathis, they said. They also went on to rue the fact that their bullet-proof vests were inadequate and sub-standard in quality and that had they been provided with better quality bullet-proof vests, Hemant Karkare and others who died in the attacks would have survived.

What hasn't quite been revealed is the fact that Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) Chief Hemant Karkare was actually carrying an AK-47 when shot by the terrorists hiding behind a tree. The terrorists snatched the AK-47 from his body while dumping it before taking over the vehicle. Now, doesn't that sound, unglamorous? Also, sharpshooter and encounter specialist, Inspector Vijay Salaskar always bragged about never wearing a bullet-proof vest in encounters. It also isn't clear whether he wore one in his last assignment.

Constable Arun Jadhav injured in the attack on Karkare, Salaskar and Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Ashok Kamte played dead on the back-seat of the police vehicle that had been hijacked by two terrorists as they drove from Cama Hospital all the way from Metro where they fired at the media and others before abandoning it at the Mantralaya when a tyre burst and they were forced to take another vehicle. Arun Jadhav has been giving bytes to the media and is tired of their incessant questions but isn't probed by the department for his inability to stop the terrorists as they drove past, killing innocents all along. He merely played dead, injured in just one hand, while they drove all the way till Mantralaya, a few kilometres away from where they hijacked it before abandoning it for another.