Wife raises questions about Karkare's death in 26/11 attacks - India News and Travel Times Provides India-centric and other News and Features

Kavita Karkare, the wife of former Maharashtra Anti-Terror Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare on Wednesday questioned the state government on why her husband and two other senior officials who were killed on 26/1 did not get reinforcements on time. This is for the first time the slain officer's family has confirmed that he did not get the back-up when it was required. Karkare, along with Additional Commissioner of Police (ACP) Ashok Kamte and Inspector Vijay Salaskar were killed by terrorists near Cama Hospital in Chatrapati Shivaji Terminus during the Mumbai siege. Speaking to the media, Kavita said: "I just didn't know anything in the initial six months, politicians, media people and other people were coming to my place, but I was not aware what exactly was going around. Nobody has ever told me that what exactly happened that day. No senior officers have told me till date what had happened with my husband. I have just gathered information from media people, or read in magazines and newspapers, till date I don't know the exact facts of that day." "But when politicians started raising questions saying that he acted in very hasty manner and went for the operation blindly then we started gathering facts about the incident. Then, we came to know when Kamte, Karkare, Salaskar were planning strategy in Cama hospital for 40 minutes. They had asked for help, but they couldn't get help in those 40 minutes. Why they could not get help in 40 minutes, but nobody is giving me that answer," she added. Kavita revealed that she was told by some police officials that it would not be possible for her to get to know what exactly happened with her husband during the terror attacks. She also alleged that Hemant Karkare was left injured and unattended for over 40 minutes and not taken to the hospital on time. "My question is that when these people were there in Cama Lane for 40 minutes, why were they not given any help? And, when their bodies were lying, why the bodies of those people were not picked for about 40 minutes," Kavita questioned. "Today, they are spending millions of rupees to preserve the bodies of the nine militants who launched the attack, just because at international level we have to show that we are showing humanity. But the bodies of martyrs were lying there as it is. What is happening in our country? And when will there be a change," she added. Earlier last week, Kavita also alleged that her husband's bulletproof jacket has gone missing. She said when his body was found, the bulletproof jacket was missing and the Right to Information (RTI) application had not yielded any information on its whereabouts. "And, after six months it struck me that his jacket is missing. But I was not in my senses to file RTI application. Now two months back when I filed RTI, I came to know that the jacket is actually missing," Kavita said.