Families of slain cops find it tough to move on

Shraddha Khandekar sits forlornly in a small room at the Nagpada police quarters. A few days before her husband Vijay was killed in the attack at Cama Hospital, the couple had celebrated seven years of marriage. But their happiness was shortlived. “We completed seven years of married life on November 21. Vijay had given me a mangalsutra which was a little short, so we gave it to a jeweller to make it longer. On November 27, we were supposed to go and pick it up,” says Shraddha, breaking down. “I will never be able to wear it again.”

 Shraddha’s sobs are only broken by the chatter of her four-year-old daughter, Samruddhi. Her mother-in-law sits in a corner, still not able to come to terms with her son’s death. “Samruddhi has been told her father has gone to God’s house and will return after his work is over. She keeps asking why Baba does not bring her chocolate,” says Shraddha.

 Shraddha can’t understand why her husband, who was a wireless operator with the Azad Maidan police, was taken to Cama when he did not even possess a gun. On that fateful night, like the families of many Mumbaikars, Shraddha, too, was glued to the TV set, trying to track every movement of the police.

 Sharda, wife of Balasaheb Bhosale, a driver with the Mumbai police main office, Naigaon, would know the feeling. Bhosale was driving slain officers Hemant Karkare, Vijay Salaskar and Ashok Kamte that night. At one point, says Sharda, Karkare asked Bhosale to let Salaskar drive, because he knew the area well. “We were told by others that Balasaheb sat in the back seat. But they were killed by the terrorists,” she said. For one moment while watching TV, Sharda was relieved that there was no news of her husband’s death. Later, however, she realised that they had merely spelt his name wrong.

 “I learnt of my husband’s death only on November 27, in the afternoon. It has still not sunk in, and I keep thinking that he will return,” Sharda says. “The news channels misspelt Balasaheb’s name as Nanasaheb, so I was confident that he would return alive.”

 Sharda has three children. While Deepak is an operator with the Naigaon police main office, and both he and his sister are married, Sharda’s worry is about her younger son, Sachin, getting a job. A good soccer player, the Bhosales were assured by Governor SC Jamir that Sachin would be considered for a position, but that has not happened yet.
And though the government has given them a room with MHADA in Prateeksha Nagar, Sharda says all she has left now are her memories. “All the memories of our life together are tied to this room, that’s why I am in no hurry to leave this place,” she says. On Friday, when the families of the slain officers, including that of Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan met up, Sharda says she suddenly realised she was “not alone” in this.
Some relatives believe the sacrifices made by their loved ones should not be forgotten.

Vaishali Omle, a B-Ed student and daughter of constable Tukaram Omle says the family got to know of Omle’s heroic efforts to battle the terrorists a whole week after his death. Omle was the man who clung to Ajmal Amir Kasab so that he could not escape, but he died in the process. “Baba’s senior came and told us how bravely he had died.
He did not have a weapon, but threw himself fearlessly at Kasab and clung to him,” says Vaishali. “He did not back down, even though his colleagues told him not to risk his life.”

 Vaishali says it was only after she saw visuals taken by a Girgaum resident that she realised how her father had fought to take a terrorist alive. She feels overwhelmed that the public has supported his efforts. “The public has stood by us,” she says.