Hemant Karkare
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Hemant Karkare AC () (12 December 1954 – 27 November 2008) was the chief of the Mumbai Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS). He was killed in action during the
2008 Mumbai attacks The 2008 Mumbai attacks (also referred to as 26/11, pronounced "twenty six eleven") were a series of Terrorism, terrorist attacks that took place in November 2008, when 10 members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, an Islamist terrorist organisation from P ...
. In 2009, he was posthumously given the Ashoka Chakra, India's highest peacetime gallantry decoration. Karkare succeeded K. P. Raghuvanshi as the Chief of ATS in January 2008 and was eventually succeeded by Raghuvanshi after he was shot dead on 26 November 2008. He was credited with solving the serial bombing cases in
Thane Thane (; also known as Thana, the official name until 1996) is a metropolitan city in Maharashtra, India. It is situated in the north-eastern portion of the Salsette Island. Thane city is entirely within Thane taluka, one of the seven talukas ...
,
Vashi Juhu Vashi (Pronunciation: aːʃiː is an upmarket residential and commercial node in Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, across the Thane Creek of the Arabian Sea on the outskirts of city of Mumbai. The Juhu Vashi is named after the largest village ...
and Panvel, and led the investigation of the
2008 Malegaon blasts On 29 September 2008 three bombs exploded in the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra of India killing 10 people and injuring 80. Two bombs went off in Malegaon, Maharashtra, which killed nine people while another blast in Modasa, Gujarat resulted ...
.


Early life

Hemant Karkare was born in a Maharashtrian
Brahmin Brahmin (; sa, ब्राह्मण, brāhmaṇa) is a varna as well as a caste within Hindu society. The Brahmins are designated as the priestly class as they serve as priests (purohit, pandit, or pujari) and religious teachers (guru ...
family.


Education and career

Karkare did his primary schooling from Chittranjan Das Municipal Primary School, Wardha and then received his middle school and high school education from New English High School,Nagpur. He obtained a
Bachelor of Engineering A Bachelor of Engineering (BEng) or a Bachelor of Science in Engineering (BSE) is an academic undergraduate degree awarded to a student after three to five years of studying engineering at an accredited college or university. In the UK, a Bache ...
degree in Mechanical Engineering from Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology,
Nagpur Nagpur (pronunciation: Help:IPA/Marathi, aːɡpuːɾ is the third largest city and the winter capital of the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is the 13th largest city in India by population and according to an Oxford's Economics report, Nag ...
in 1975. After graduation he worked for the
National Productivity Council The National Productivity Council (NPC) was established in 1958 as an autonomous organization under Department for Promotion of Industry & Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry (India), Government of India. There are 13 regional office ...
of the Government of India and then
Hindustan Lever Limited Hindustan Unilever Limited (HUL) is a consumer goods company headquartered in Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is a subsidiary of Unilever, a British company. Its products include foods, beverages, cleaning agents, personal care products, water purifi ...
(now called Hindustan Unilever Ltd.), India's largest
FMCG Fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), also known as consumer packaged goods (CPG), are products that are sold quickly and at a relatively low cost. Examples include non-durable household goods such as packaged foods, beverages, toiletries, cand ...
company.


Police service

Karkare joined the
Indian Police Service The Indian Police Service ( IPS) is a civil service under the All India Services. It replaced the Indian Imperial Police in 1948, a year after India became independent from the British Raj. Along with the Indian Administrative Service (IAS ...
(IPS) as a member of the 1982 batch (35RR). Before becoming ATS Chief of Maharashtra State in January 2008, he was Joint Commissioner of Police (Administration) of
Mumbai Police The Mumbai Police (Marathi: मुंबई पोलीस, IAST: ''Mumbaī Pulīs'', formerly ''Bombay Police'') is the police department of the city of Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is a part of Maharashtra Police and has the primary responsibiliti ...
. He served seven years in Austria in the
Research and Analysis Wing The Research and Analysis Wing (abbreviated R&AW; hi, ) is the foreign intelligence agency of India. The agency's primary function is gathering foreign intelligence, counter-terrorism, counter-proliferation, advising Indian policymakers, an ...
(RAW), India's external intelligence agency. According to former senior Mumbai Police officer Y.C. Pawar, Mr. Karkare was regarded as very influential officer in police circles.


Malegaon investigation

On 8 September 2006, a series of bomb blasts took place in
Malegaon Malegaon is a city and a municipal corporation in Nashik District in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is situated on the bank of Mosam River. History Malegaon (previously Maligaon G.N. Wright, 1837. See entry for MULLIGAUM, p216.) at the co ...
,
Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...
. On 29 September 2008, three bombs exploded in
Modasa Modasa is a town and a municipality in Aravalli district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Modasa was named after the Bhil chieftain Malaji Bhil, who ruled in Modasa during 1466. Modasa became headquarters of new Aravalli district, carved out ...
,
Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...
and
Malegaon Malegaon is a city and a municipal corporation in Nashik District in the Indian state of Maharashtra. It is situated on the bank of Mosam River. History Malegaon (previously Maligaon G.N. Wright, 1837. See entry for MULLIGAUM, p216.) at the co ...
,
Maharashtra Maharashtra (; , abbr. MH or Maha) is a states and union territories of India, state in the western India, western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. Maharashtra is the List of states and union te ...
killing eight people, and injuring 80. Several unexploded bombs were found in
Ahmedabad Ahmedabad ( ; Gujarati: Amdavad ) is the most populous city in the Indian state of Gujarat. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ahmedabad district and the seat of the Gujarat High Court. Ahmedabad's population of 5,570,585 (per t ...
, Gujarat. Hemant Karkare, as the chief of the state Anti-Terror Squad, led the investigation into the
2008 Malegaon blasts On 29 September 2008 three bombs exploded in the states of Gujarat and Maharashtra of India killing 10 people and injuring 80. Two bombs went off in Malegaon, Maharashtra, which killed nine people while another blast in Modasa, Gujarat resulted ...
. In late October 2008, the ATS arrested eleven suspects, including a former
ABVP Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) () is a right-wing all India student organisation affiliated to the Hindu nationalist organization Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). History The ABVP, founded in 1948 with the initiative of the RSS ...
student leader Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, Swami Amritananda alias Dayanand Pandey, a retired Major Ramesh Upadhyay and a serving Army officer Lt. Col. Prasad Shrikant Purohit. Most of the accused belonged to a Hindutva group called
Abhinav Bharat Abhinav Bharat is a Hindu militant organization founded by retired Indian Army Major Ramesh Upadhyay in 2006 in Pune, India. It has a large base in Madhya Pradesh. The organization is believed to be the revived form of the pre-Independence era Ab ...
with prior links to
Sangh Parivar The Sangh Parivar (translation: "Family of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh" or the "RSS family") refers, as an umbrella term, to the collection of Hindu nationalist organisations spawned by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which rema ...
organisations. Karkare's ATS identified, for the first time, Hindutva organisations as being responsible for terrorism in India, and political commentators began to call it
Hindutva terror Hindu terrorism, sometimes called Hindutva terror or, metonymically, saffron terror, comprises terrorist acts carried out on the basis of motivations in broad association with Hinduism. Such acts have principally been perpetrated by members, ...
or
Saffron terror Saffron terror is a neologism used to describe acts of violence motivated by Hindutva. Hindu extremism is usually perpetrated by members, or alleged members, of Hindu nationalist organisations like Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) or Abhina ...
. Opposition parties, including the
Bharatiya Janta Party The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP; ; ) is a political party in India, and one of the two major Indian political parties alongside the Indian National Congress. Since 2014, it has been the ruling political party in India under Narendra Modi ...
and
Shiv Sena Shiv Sena ( IAST: ''Śiva Sēnā'') () was a right-wing to far-right Marathi regionalist and Hindu ultranationalist political party in India founded in 1966 by cartoonist Bal Thackeray. Originally emerging from nativist movements in Bom ...
, and Hindu organizations alleged that the arrests were made under the pressure of the incumbent radical government, in an attempt to appease India's Muslim population. These parties called him 'a traitor to the nation' for his investigation in this direction.
Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (; born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician serving as the 14th and current Prime Minister of India since 2014. Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Parliament from ...
, then the Chief Minister of
Gujarat Gujarat (, ) is a state along the western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the fifth-largest Indian state by area, covering some ; and the ninth ...
, accused the ATS of undermining the military morale. Some BJP,
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( ; , , ) is an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organisation. The RSS is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar (Hindi for "Sangh family" ...
(RSS) and
Vishva Hindu Parishad The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) () is an Indian right-wing Hindu organization based on Hindu nationalism. The VHP was founded in 1964 by M. S. Golwalkar and S. S. Apte in collaboration with Swami Chinmayananda. Its stated objective is "to ...
(VHP) leaders accused the ATS of being used as a tool to attack the
Sangh Parivar The Sangh Parivar (translation: "Family of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh" or the "RSS family") refers, as an umbrella term, to the collection of Hindu nationalist organisations spawned by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), which rema ...
and of using illegal detention and torture. Thakur was given a clean-chit in the chargesheet presented by NIA in 2016 to the court. And the court dropped charges of Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) put by ATS following which she applied for a bail and the Court granted it. The bail order lied that she is "suffering from breast cancer" and was "infirm and cannot even walk without support". Multiple videos of Pragya dancing prove this lie. She is currently facing charges of Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and other Indian Penal Code sections and a trial is ongoing as of April 2019. She contested and won the
Bhopal Bhopal (; ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of both Bhopal district and Bhopal division. It is known as the ''City of Lakes'' due to its various natural and artificial lakes. It i ...
seat during the Lok Sabha elections of 2019. He tortured Pragya Thakur while being in Jail along with Parambeer Singh and a few others as alleged by the Pragya Thakur herself.


Death

Karkare, along with senior police officials Ashok Kamte and Vijay Salaskar, were killed outside the
Cama Hospital The 'Cama & Albless Hospital'' (originally just Cama Hospital) is a hospital for women and children in the city of Mumbai, India, with 367 beds. History The foundation stone was laid by H.R.H. the Duke of Connaught on 22 November 1883 and ...
after Pakistani terrorist wing opened fire on their police van. At 9.45 p.m. on 26 November 2008, while having his dinner at his Dadar residence, he received a call about a terrorist attack at
Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (officially Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Bombay station code: CSMT ( mainline)/ST (suburban)), is a historic railway terminus and UNESCO World Heritage Site in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. The terminus was d ...
(C.S.T.) station. He switched on the TV for news and left at once with his driver and bodyguards for C.S.T. There he donned a
bullet-proof vest A bulletproof vest, also known as a ballistic vest or a bullet-resistant vest, is an item of body armor that helps absorb the impact and reduce or stop penetration to the torso from firearm-fired projectiles and fragmentation from explosions. ...
and helmet (shown on news channels live), and went to Platform No.1, but found it deserted. He was then informed that the terrorists had moved to the Cama and Albless Hospital ("Cama") next to the Azad Maidan police station. The operation was difficult as it was dark and the terrorists were well prepared and virtually on a ''
fidayeen Fedayeen ( ar, فِدائيّين ''fidāʼīyīn'' "self-sacrificers") is an Arabic term used to refer to various military groups willing to sacrifice themselves for a larger campaign. Etymology The term ''fedayi'' is derived from Arabic: '' ...
'' mission. The officers, with a few constables, went into Cama from the back. A couple of constables were left stationed at the back entrance of Cama, while the rest boarded a Qualis jeep. Senior Police Inspector Vijay Salaskar asked the driver of the Qualis to let him take over at the wheel. About that time, they heard on the wireless that the terrorists were hiding behind a red car. As they turned from the Crime Branch office towards Rang Bhavan looking for the red car, near the
Corporation Bank Corporation Bank was a public-sector banking company headquartered in Mangalore, India. The bank had a pan-Indian presence. Presently, the bank has a network of 2,432 fully automated CBS branches, 3,040 ATMs, and 4,724 branchless banking units ...
ATM, they saw one of the terrorists running. Ashok Kamte, ACP of Mumbai East, or Salaskar – or both – fired, the bullet hitting the terrorist on his arm, his AK-47 fell down. He was Kasab, the lone terrorist captured alive later. As they were thinking of getting down, a second terrorist, Ismail Khan appeared and fired a volley of bullets at them. All but one, Assistant Police Inspector Jadhav, died. Hemant Karkare, Ashok Kamte, Salaskar and others died in fighting the Mumbai attacks, on 27 November 2008 in a narrow lane between
St. Xavier's College A multitude of schools and universities have been named after St. Francis Xavier, a Spanish Roman Catholic saint and co-founder of the Society of Jesus. This page lists notable educational institutions named after St. Xavier, arranged by country a ...
and Rang Bhavan, just a stone throw away from the Crime Branch office. ''Indian Express'' quotes statements by Constable Arun Jadhav, who was with the officers Hemant Karkare,
Vijay Salaskar Vijay Salaskar, AC (24 February 1957 – 26 November 2008) was an Indian police inspector and encounter specialist with the Mumbai police. He was widely credited with killing 75–80 criminals in encounters – most of these were members of t ...
and Ashok Kamte when they died. The three officers and four constables had received information that Sadanand Date had been injured in the gunfire at the Cama and Albless Hospital for women and children. Located at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), a ten-minute drive from the hospital, they took a
Toyota Qualis The Toyota Kijang is a series of pickup trucks, multi purpose vehicles and light commercial vehicles sold mainly in Southeast Asia, Taiwan and India by Toyota. It was first introduced in Indonesia in 1977 and had become the most popular car in ...
and proceeded in that direction. Salaskar was driving, Kamte in the passenger seat, Karkare in the second row, and the four constables, including Jadhav, were in the back row of seating. According to Jadhav, five minutes later, two terrorists stepped out from behind a tree and opened fire with AK-47 automatic rifles. The six policemen, other than Jadhav, were all killed quickly in the gunfire. Kamte was the sole officer who managed to retaliate, wounding terrorist Ajmal in the arm. The wounded Jadhav had no opportunity to render assistance. The two terrorists approached the vehicle, dumped the bodies of the three officers on the road and, leaving the constables for dead, proceeded to
Metro Cinema Metro Cinema may refer to: * Metro Cinema (Derby), closed 2008 * Metro Cinema (Mumbai) 1938–2006 name, now Metro BIG Cinemas, Mumbai * Metro Cinema (Kolkata), a single screen movie theatre in Kolkata (formerly Calcutta) * Metro Cinema Edmonton, ...
. Upon arrival, they aimed three bursts of automatic fire at the police and press vehicles drawn up at that location, then drove off towards the government offices ( Vidhan Bhawan) in South Mumbai. Here again they fired several times. While attempting to leave the area, one of the tires of the vehicle burst, so the terrorists departed to obtain another. At this point, Jadhav was able to contact headquarters. The bodies of the dead were recovered and taken to St George Hospital. However the statement that Kasab fired "inside the car" was rejected by the court. The crucial evidence in Karkare's death - the source of bullet fired into his body was absent. The bullets did not match with few of the terrorist's recovered guns which made it impossible to decide who amongst the terrorists killed Hemant Karkare. In an investigation, Headline Today, an Indian news agency, found that a substandard bulletproof jacket had been issued to Mr. Karkare. Though, according to the post mortem report, the quality of the vest was not a factor in his death as bullets did not pierce the vest. Concerns in the media about the quality of the vest continue because the vest itself was, according to Indian authorities, misplaced in the hospital. In 2018, the
Bombay High Court The High Court of Bombay is the high court of the states of Maharashtra and Goa in India, and the union territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu. It is seated primarily at Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay), and is one of the ol ...
discarded a pending petition that had claimed that Karkare was not gunned down by terrorists Ajmal Kasab and Abu Ismail. His widow, Kavita Karkare, suffered a massive brain haemorrhage on 27 September 2014 and soon slipped into coma. Thereafter she died on 29 September 2014, at age of 57. She lived in, Dadar, and was a professor at the NSS B.Ed college, Tardeo, but left work a few months before her death and was suffering from hypertension. The Karkares are survived by their two daughters and a son.


Official version contested

A book ''The Last Bullet'' by Vinita Kamte, wife of additional commissioner of police Ashok Kamte, who was killed in the 26/11 strike, alleges the police force ignored crucial information during the terrorist attacks. Vinita claims to have exposed Maria’s ‘feigned ignorance’ about the events unfolding in Rang Bhawan lane. Kamte, Anti-Terrorism Squad chief Hemant Karkare and senior inspector Vijay Salaskar were killed there. Vinita also writes about how Karkare’s repeated pleas for reinforcement to block the passage of the terrorists fleeing Cama Hospital went unheeded for over an hour. ''Who Killed Karkare?: The Real Face of Terrorism in India'' by S. M. Mushrif. This book was published in October 2009, that is a year after 26/11 Terror Attack, is written by a former senior Maharashtra top cop, with a distinguished career that included unearthing the Telgi scam, peeps behind the propaganda screen, using material mostly in the public domain as well as his long police experience. The Times of India called this book controversial and quoted that the author he had highlighted in his book how former ATS chief Hemant Karkare was killed in a conspiracy hatched by Intelligence Bureau (IB) to pave way for the appointment of their favoured KP Raghuvanshi as ATS chief to thwart investigations against the Hindu hardliners allegedly involved in Malegaon blast of 2006.


See also

*
Vijay Salaskar Vijay Salaskar, AC (24 February 1957 – 26 November 2008) was an Indian police inspector and encounter specialist with the Mumbai police. He was widely credited with killing 75–80 criminals in encounters – most of these were members of t ...
* Ashok Kamte * Sadanand Date


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Karkare, Hemant 1954 births 2008 deaths Deaths by firearm in India Male murder victims Terrorism victims in India Police officers from Mumbai Indian police officers killed in the line of duty Victims of the 2008 Mumbai attacks People from Nagpur Recipients of the Ashoka Chakra (military decoration) Marathi people Indian Police Service officers Ashoka Chakra