In the hostage crisis the Anti Terror Squad Chief Hemant Karkare has been killed by the terrorists.
He was a highly qualified officer handling the Malegaon blasts and it proves that India has lost a brave man...who led from the front.
Also killed is encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar.
For Bombay and India, the next few days its time to stop.
Do we deserve this?
Just read this story published at ndtv.com on August 6 where Mr. Hemant Karkare spoke out against the Maharashtra government for neglecting the terror squad..they were given no budgets...no office and even the arms they have to borrow from the Mumbai police.
And such men are expected to defend India?
This is the story by ndtvs Dharmesh Thakker:
While the financial capital Mumbai continues to be on the terror hit list, the Anti-Terror Squad in the state has been fighting the bureaucratic red tape to bring its manpower, resources and funds at par with other states.
R Patil, Deputy Chief Minister said, "In our fight against terror, we are taking all precautions and we know that the police is under a lot of stress."
The reason why Mumbai had a head start in setting up anti terror squads were experienced personnel to fight the growing menace.
But four years after its formation, the Maharashtra anti terrorism squad or the ATS does not even have its own office.
It operates from a space shared with the Mumbai police, with men borrowed from various police stations and crime branch units.
Other state agencies provide with technical and scientific experts.
After the Hyderabad blasts last year Andhra Pradesh set up an elite organisation to counter terrorisim called Octopus with a sanctioned strength of 1797 compared to the 491 of the ATS in Maharashtra.
Octopus has been given nine computer experts, 18 forensic scientists and 133 experts on contracts.
In comparison the ATS falls woefully short.
Maharashtra even rejected a proposal for ATS personnel to travel by air.
Hemant Karkare, ATS Chief said, "No separate budget allocation has been made for ATS and they have to use funds from crime branch. Next year provision will be made for ATS separate funds."
The ATS has succeeded in making headway in most blast cases in Maharashtra unlike other states."
But lack of resources have hampered the functioning of the agency in gathering intelligence and detecting terror attacks on time.
1 comment:
Thanks for posting starking report on the inefficiency of the allocation of funds by the Maharashtra govt. to the ATS. And, for the death of the ATS chief and police personnel, we should hang the persons responsible for not providing with a proper office and other modern equipments for communication & arms & ammunition for these brave and committed officers.
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