When the terrorists struck on the night of November 26 last year, the vehicle, a Tata Safari, was lying idle outside the Air India building at Nariman Point.
Hemant Karkare, the slain chief of the state’s anti-terrorism squad (ATS), would have gone after Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab and his associate Abu Ismail in the bullet-proof vehicle provided to him by his department. But when the terrorists struck on the night of November 26 last year, the vehicle, a Tata Safari, was lying idle outside the Air India building at Nariman Point.
The result: the police lost three brilliant officers.
The office of the then police commissioner, Hasan Gafoor, had asked for the vehicle a few days before the 26/11 attacks, sources said. There was an “oral communication” from the commissioner’s office to send the bullet-proof vehicle and it was immediately despatched, an ATS officer told DNA on the condition of anonymity. “The vehicle was returned to the ATS a few days after 26/11,” the officer said.
Gafoor was not available for comment despite repeated attempts.
The silver-coloured Tata Safari (MH-01-SA-1881) had been provided to Karkare after the Intelligence Bureau alerted the ATS about the threat to his life because he had unearthed the alleged involvement of Hindu fundamentalists in the Malegaon bomb blast.
On the fateful night, Karkare had to travel in a Tata Indigo, which was not bullet-proof. He then switched to a Qualis, which was ambushed by the terrorists.
The Safari, on the other hand, was used as an escort vehicle for Gafoor.
“Had the vehicle been with the ATS, the people travelling in the ill-fated police Qualis, including Karkare, Ashok Kamte and Vijay Salaskar, would not have died,” a senior police officer said.
An officer who was on duty outside Oberoi on 26/11 said that the bullet-proof vehicle was parked behind Gafoor’s official car, a Honda City. “Instead of keeping it idle at one place on such a crucial night, it could have been sent to help Karkare. Or, even the commissioner himself could have sat in the bullet-proof vehicle and visited all terror-hit spots,” said another officer.
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