Karkare: An officer and a gentleman

Hemant Karkare, Chief, Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad

When Mumbai’s former police commissioner Julio Rebeiro hailed Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare as one of the finest officers in the country, he was not exaggerating.

A 1982 batch IPS officer, Karkare was a Bachelor of Engineering from Vishveshvarayya Regional Engineering College in Nagpur. He worked for the National Productivity Council and Hindustan Lever before leaving the high-paying jobs for the glamour of the uniform. Hindustan Lever’s loss was the country’s gain as Karkare showed bright sparks in the very first year of his training – topping the batch in 1983.

Karkare’s first assignment was in Bhusawal as assistant superintendent of police in 1984. He was then posted as additional superintendent of police in Nanded 1986. His next posting came in 1987 in Thane. It is this posting that explains why the Shiv Sena targeted Karkare when terror suspect Pragya Singh Thakur was arrested.

In 1998, Karkare took the bold step of arresting Shiv Sena leader Anand Dighe from Thane. The Shiv Sena was trying to foment communal tensions at Haji Malang in Kalyan, where both Hindus and Muslims went to pray. Dighe was to Thane what Bal Thackeray is to Mumbai, and his arrest frustrated the terror tactics of Shiv Sena.

Karkare took over the investigation of the multi-crore shoe scandal and was also in charge of the narcotics division in Mumbai. He was one of the few Maharashtra cadre IPS officers who remained untouched by corruption scandals and controversies during the Telgi case. That could have helped him get a prestigious posting in the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW). Karkare was posted in Austria for almost seven years in his nine years with RAW. She became the head of ATS in January this year after his return to the state cadre.

Karkare solved the serial bomb blasts in Thane, Vashi and Panvel. He also handled the July 2006 Mumbai local train blasts case. Most recently, he was credited for the stunning revelations in the investigation of the September 29 Malegaon blast. During his posting as superintendent of police in Vidarbha’s Chandrapur district, people saw a different side of his personality. He created 150 beautiful wood sculptures in the forested area.

Only a few days ago, his batch-mate and one of his close friends, joint commissioner of police K.L. Prasad described him as an “officer who always took a principled stand whatever the consequences”. ATS officials fear that his death will clearly derail investigations, as he was the only one who calmly took all the pressure and let his men do the job.

Courtesy: Krishna Kumar / Mail Today

Vijay Salaskar: Life and death by the gun

He was said to be the last of Mumbai’s encounter specialists until a hail of bullets brought him down on Wednesday. He is supposed to have killed nearly 80 alleged gangsters.

A 1983 batch officer, Salaskar started off as a sub-inspector. But his ability to sniff out criminals quickly made him a favourite with the police top brass, who used him and other cops to get rid of many underworld criminals.

His first encounter was in 1983, when he shot dead one Raja Shahabuddin, who had a number of cases against him. Gangsters like Amar Naik, Jaggu Shetty, Sadhu Shetty, Kundan Singh Rawat, Zahoor Makhanda ended up as statistics in Salaskar’s growing encounter list.

In 1997, he was accused by underworld don Arun Gawli of trying to eliminate him in a fake encounter after the cop gunned down his aides Sada Pawle and Vijay Tandel. Gawli went to the extent of writing to the government that Salaskar would bump him off in a fake encounter. But Salaskar did not face any departmental proceedings. He, however, was frequently in the news for alleged fake encounters.

Courtesy: Mail Today

Ashok Kamte – A daring officer and excellent negotiator

Mumbai (PTI): Daring, but with an exceptionally cool head made Ashok Kamte an excellent negotiator in crisis situations – a quality for which he was summoned late Thursday night to deal with terrorists holed up in Mumbai buildings.

Kamte, a 1989 batch IPS officer of Maharashtra cadre, who died fighting terrorists near Mumbai’s Metro cinema, was one of the brightest of his batch, and one of the few officers who dared to take on challenges directly.

Having undergone special training for negotiating hostage situations, Kamte was chosen to tackle one of the worst crisis faced by the financial capital of the country.

Maharashtra Police specially summoned him to undertake the operation at Metro Cinema near Cama Place in the city where he laid down his life fighting with terrorists along with encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar.

Deputy Commissioner of Police in Mumbai, Kamte was a key officer in the state police. He had also served as the Commissioner of Solapur where he became a hero among locals.

With over 400 fans on his Orkut profile, Kamte enjoyed a lot of respect during his tenure at Solapur.

“A cop that turned Solapur from a wrong city to the right one. The person who every responsible Solapurkar liked and loved. This community has been created to pay the respect and gratitude that he deserves,” wrote one of his fans on the social networking web site.

Survived by his wife and two children, Kamte had a panache for body building during his college days. His friends at the IPS academy also remember him as a great athlete and one of the brightest cadets of his batch.

Sandeep Unnikrishnan waged a valiant battle against terrorists

source

He lost his life while saving an injured colleague

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He was commissioned in the Army in 1999

He participated in various operations conducted by the NSG

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BANGALORE: Being in the forefront of the National Security Guards operations at the Taj Mahal Hotel in Mumbai, Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan not only waged a valiant battle against the terrorists but also did his best to save his injured colleagues and in the bargain lost his life. He showed the real warrior in him before laying down his life.

Thirty-one-year-old Major Sandeep is the only son of retired ISRO officer K. Unnikrishnan, who is settled in Bangalore.

His father told presspersons: “I lost my son in Mumbai on Friday. Though I do not like to call him a martyr, I can proudly say that he has done something for this country.”

He was informed of the death of his son by the Deputy Inspector-General of Police (National Security Guards).

According to information reaching the family, “Major Sandeep was leading a team and during the operations two of his colleagues sustained bullet injuries. In a bid to save them Sandeep turned back. The bullets fired by the terrorists pierced him. On November 26, he had called us and said that one of his childhood friends is getting married in the city on December 17. He had planned to attend that marriage,” Mr. Unnikrishnan said.

Major Sandeep was ambitious, talented and a brave soul, said his friends and neighbours. He joined the National Defence Academy and was commissioned in the Bihar 7th Regiment in 1999.

He was drafted to the NSG after his gallantry was recognised,” Kiran Srivasthav, a childhood friend of Major Sandeep told The Hindu.

According to Anirudh Uppal, Inspector-General (Headquarters) National Security Guards (NSG), Major Sandeep had exposure to counter insurgency operations after having served in Jammu and Kashmir for two terms.

He was deputed to the NSG on January 20, 2007 and participated in various operations conducted by the elite force.

The gallant officer of the team commander of 51 SAG was deployed to clear Hotel Taj Mahal of extremists on November 27.

He led the team from the front and engaged the terrorists in a fierce gunfight. When one of the NSG commandos was injured in the exchange of fire, he arranged for his evacuation and regardless of personal safety chased the terrorists who, meanwhile, escaped to another floor of the hotel, and while doing so Major Sandeep continuously engaged them. In the encounter that followed, he was seriously injured and succumbed to injuries.

MUMBAI TERROR.

These incidents make me think of my violent pro-naxal ideas. However this article is not about my internal conflicts.

Mobile phones invented to speak. As technology advanced they built a camera in it so that we can capture our lovable memories with our family and friends. Unfortunately the same camera is increasingly used to record porn videos which are easily spread via MMS/bluetooth/ infrared. Whom to blame – THE MOBILE OR MOBILE USERS?

This is the time to stand against terrorism and not against any particular religion. If we stand against a particular religion in the name of antiterrorism for our religious concerns then a day will come in INDIA where the situation will be a replica of Afghan / Pakistan. Both Afghan and Pakistan which supported religious fundamentalism paid and are paying a heavy price when the fundamentalists took the power. If we support fundamentalists of any religion now we will have to pay a price for that in future.