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Slain officer was unhappy over terror probe criticism
Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare, killed by terrorists in Mumbai, was a disturbed man in the days leading to his death because of criticism over the Malegaon blasts probe, former colleagues said.
- IANS
- Published: 00:34 December 1, 2008
- Hemant Karkare was a disturbed man in the days leading to his death because of criticism over the Malegaon blasts probe.
- Image Credit: Reuters
Mumbai: Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare, killed by terrorists in Mumbai, was a disturbed man in the days leading to his death because of criticism over the Malegaon blasts probe, former colleagues said.
Former Mumbai police chief Julio Ribeiro and retired police officer Sudhakar Suradkar said that Karkare was not his usual self near the Cama hospital while going to take on terrorists on Wednesday night.
Calling Karkare a "rare officer", Ribeiro said that in the brief period he had known him, he could see that Karkare was "troubled with attacks on him by political parties".
Karkare, a 1982 batch Indian Police Service officer, was investigating the September 29 bomb blasts in Maharashtra's Malegaon town that were blamed on Hindu radicals.
Hindu activists blasted Karkare for arresting an army officer and a Hindu ascetic, accusing the officer of anti-Hindu bias.
"During the morning walk I often meet Hemant. He seemed quite disturbed and hurt. Perhaps he was under mental stress. Unfounded and false implications had rattled him leaving him disillusioned," Suradkar said. He went on to say that the way he carried out the anti-terrorist operation was "unlike Hemant" since he was a very "methodical" person.
Karkare was among 20 security personnel killed battling terrorists, 14 of whom belonged to Maharashtra Police.
Both serving and retired police officers also paid tributes to Karkare, who was cremated on Saturday.
"It was an honour to serve under him," said an emotional Nasir Kulkarni, who was Karkare's bodyguard.
"Sir [Karkare] was a true karmayogi [man of action]. He treated everyone equally irrespective of post," Kulkarni said.
Other officials called Karkare a humble man and an exemplary officer. "He was very accessible and humble. He was an outstanding officer and an outstanding human being. He would never implicate anyone falsely, he was fair," said Suradkar, a former inspector general of police.
Y.P. Singh, a retired IPS officer and Karkare's friend, alleged "there was a lot of anguish among police officials about the poor quality of safety equipment like helmets and bullet-proof jackets".
Ribeiro said that police reforms should be de-politicised. "Reforms should make policing more professional and not politicised."
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