3 rode to death in same car

Karkare, Kamte, Salaskar may have been alive had they taken different cars, says sole witness to the killings

November 26, 2008. Perhaps, the saddest day in the history of the police force. Three of its finest officers were killed in the terror attacks launched on the city on Wednesday. Joint commissioner of police and chief of the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) Hemant Karkare, additional commissioner of police Ashok Kamte and encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar lost their lives fighting the terrorists.

A constable told DNA the sequence of events that led to the three super cops being killed - all at the same time. According to him, they made a fatal mistake by boarding the same car.

Karkare, Kamte and Salaskar were all stationed outside the CST after news came in of indiscriminate firing at the busy railway station, said the constable. Soon, there was another report of two terrorists having fled from the station and barging into Madam Cama hospital behind the BMC headquarters.

All three officers decided to rush to Cama hospital. They piled into a Toyota Qualis, belonging to ACP Bhalerao, and made a dash for the hospital. Just as the vehicle reached the rear premises of the hospital, the two terrorists came running out. Seeing the approaching Qualis, they fired on it with their AK47 rifles. The officers did not have any time to react and were instantly felled by multiple bullet hits.

The terrorists dumped the seriously injured trio on the road and threatened the police driver at gun point. They got into the van and fled the spot, living Karakare, Kamte and Salaskar to bleed to death. The vehicle made its way toward Metro Adlabs, where the terrorists fired in the direction of journalists and fled towards Nariman Point.

Trying to take a sharp turn near at Nariman Point, one of the wheels of the Qualis was damaged. The terrorists got out and fired the driver point-blank, before abandoning the vehicle near Inox.

They then stole a Skoda Octavia and fled towards Girgaum Chowpatty. A police team intercepted the car at the Girgaum Chowpatty signal and shot one of the terrorists dead and the other was arrested. The dead terrorist has been identified as Abu and the arrested terrorist as Ismail.

“This is the first time in Mumbai that the terrorists have attacked the police like this. We have lost our best officers, but I think if they wanted, they could have avoided the trouble by taking the proper precautions. Vijay Salaskar was the least controversial encounter specialist. Hemant Karkare was the most dedicated officer we had in the police force and Ashok Kamte was again a very sincere officer. It is a great loss to all of us,” YP Singh, former IPS officer.

“It is a very sad for the nation as we lost some of our best officers. This is the first time so many police officers have lost their lives in a terrorist attack in Mumbai. I think during the initial stage, we did not realise that these terrorists could be so dangerous. We should be proud of all the three top officers who led the operation and saved the life of many junior level officers. I feel sad for the family members of the deceased but as a police man I am very proud of them for their courage,” said MN Singh, former police commissioner, Mumbai

“This is the saddest day of my life. I will never be able to forget it. Hemant Karkare was very close to me as he was under me at Nashik when he joined as a trainee IPS officer.

Vijay Salaskar again had also worked under me as a sub-inspector. I knew Kamte from the time he was in Thane. All the three persons were very dedicated, brave and well mannered. I can’t believe that I will never be able to meet Karkare again as I met only a few days ago,” Arvind Inamdar, former state DGP said.