Hemant Karkare (c. 1954 - 26 November 2008) was chief of the Mumbai Anti Terrorist Squad.
He wore a helmet, talked on his cellphone and finally put on a bullet-proof jacket before he met his deathly fate in the country's biggest terror seize.
Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (
ATS) chief
Hemant Karkare, who was probing the Malegaon blasts case, suffered three bullet injuries in his chest as he was leading the offensive against the terrorists in one of the places the ultras had holed out on 26 November 2008 Mumbai attacks.
The last television visuals of the 54-year-old officer showed him in a light blue shirt and dark trousers surrounded by uniformed policemen armed with firearms and walkie-talkies.
Mr. Karkare, who was the 1982 batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, held a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Vishveshvarayya Regional Engineering in Nagpur. He also served in the Naxalite-infested Chandarpur area of the state.
As ATS Chief he was also involved in the Malegaon blast probe which was subject to a lot of criticism by many Hindu organisations. His brave act of fighting the terrorists ended in tragedy.
chief Hemant Karkare, senior officer Salaskar and ACP Kamte died while engaging terrorists outside the Cama hospital, All of a sudden, terrorists threw grenades at Hemant Karkare leading to chaos. Its yet not confirm whether they fell to terrorist fire or were killed by the grenades.
One of the brightest officers, Hemant Karkare had solved the serial bomb blasts in Thane, Vashi and Panvel and was also credited for the stunning revelations in the investigation of the September 29 blast in Malegaon. He is known for his discipline and fair investigation.
During the Malegaon investigation, Karkare had told his officers not to create false evidence, saying, "We should do our job and it is for the court to decide."
Incidentally, the Pune ATS on November 26 reportedly received phone calls threatening to blow up the residence of Hemant Karkare "within a couple of days".
Among the other police officers dead in Wednesday (26.11.2008) night's terror attacks are Vijay Salaskar, who had killed around 75 dreaded criminals in police encounters.
After being out of the spotlight for quite sometime, the encounter specialist was given the plum posting of heading of the anti-extortion wing of the crime branch.
Another officer, Ashok Kamte, a 1989 batch IPS officer, was the DCP, Zone 1, in Mumbai and was also the key officer in state police. He had also served as the commissioner of Solapur and was always known to be in the thick of action. Kamte was killed while fighting terrorists at Metro Cinema in the city along with encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar.
Before joining the ATS, Hemant Karkare was serving as the Joint Commissioner of Police (Administration). He had also worked with the National Productivity Council and Hindustan Lever before joining the Indian Police Service (IPS) in 1982.
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