Says a police officer fielded over a 1,000 calls that night
Says a police officer fielded over a 1,000 calls that night
On the night of November 26, 2008, when 10 LeT men put the city under siege, security personnel from the NSG, the Quick Response Team, the SRPF and the Mumbai police were out on the streets battling it out. That is known.
What is not, is the situation inside the police control room and that it was no less than a battlefield.
MiD DAY spoke to a police officer on what happened inside that room. But he did not want to be named because of the Rakesh Maria-Vinita Kamte controversy.
"We were getting desperate phone calls. And it was not one or two calls, but thousands," said the police officer.
He added, "We had very little time and action had to be taken immediately. We had to send a police force to the spots, provide ambulance service, coordinate with officers and ask for reinforcements, etc."
"There was a lot of confusion. Maria sir did a great job by keeping his cool and saw to it that we responded very quickly to the calls. K L Prasad sir was at the control room, but left at midnight."
ACP Ashok Kamte's widow Vinita has accused Joint Commissioner (crime, Mumbai) Rakesh Maria in her book, To the Last Bullet, of not admitting to knowing the location of ATS chief Hemant Karkare and that both Karkare and Kamte were wounded.
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"Ask him (Maria) what explanation he has for the 12.56 am conversation that night, by when it was clear that the hurt officers were being moved to a hospital," Vinita has written.
Rakesh MariaBut the police officer said, "He did his best to handle the situation. There were over a thousand calls from various people. including officers.
Maria sir did his best to coordinate. Quite naturally, he never wanted Kamte or any of the officers to die. What happened was an accident and he should not be held responsible," said the officer.
Vinita Kamte"I understand her problem. She is going by the records of the control room, but not by the calls made on mobiles, as they are not available.
Which means, she has only half the information. Only those inside the control room can understand the situation," he added.
Vinita Kamte VS Mumbai PoliceIn her book, Vinita Kamte, ACP Ashok Kamte's widow, reveals her long struggle to unravel the truth about her husband's death.
Kamte details her efforts to piece together information about the sequence of events that preceded her husband's death on 26/11.
Her inquiries uncovered the glaring lapses in coordination and action by top Mumbai police officers on the night terror struck Mumbai.
