Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare was killed while leading from the front in the battle against the terrorists that attacked India’s financial capital, Bombay. It was shocking to see the former joint commissioner of police so ill equipped and ready put to his life on line without a chain of command in place. Nobody would question the valor of late Chief Karkare but the wisdom of such rash judgment. Look at the bullet-proof jacket Hemant Karkare was wearing. Do you think it was adequate to face the fire from a AK-47 assault rifle? He was carrying a small gun totally outdated to embark on a sensitive operation. Who was responsible for such a state of our security agencies? ‘We the people’ would never know!
The Bombay Police has a workforce of 40,000 people and a budget of Rs 490 crore ($98 million) to protect the real-estate of probably $1 trillion! In contrast NYPD (New York Police Department) has a budget of Rs 20,000 crore ($3.9 billion) to protect fewer people. Bombay Police spent more than 85 per cent (Rs 415 crore) of the budget to pay the salaries of its force. Only Rs 75 crore was left for modernization and intelligence gathering. According to Prafulla Marpakwar of TNN, “Records show that the government has spent Rs 940 crore on “modernization” in the last eight years. But most of the money has been used for construction of new police stations, administrative buildings and buying luxury sedans for senior IPS officers. “We had adequate funds but never upgraded our firepower to tackle terror attacks. That was why we were helpless when terrorists attacked Mumbai on Wednesday,” a senior IPS officer said, adding that 60% of the Rs 940 crore was spent on buildings and cars and very little on improving mobility or upgrading weapons and ammunition.”
Hemant Karkare, Vijay Salaskar and Ashok Kamte leading the charge
Filed under: Indian Politics | Tagged: 000 people, AK-47, AK-47 assault rifle, Ashok Kamte, ATS, Bombay Police, bullet-proof jacket, chain of command, former joint commissioner of police, Hemant Karkare, India's financial capital, Maharashtra Anti Terrorism Squad, misplaced-valor, modernization and intelligence gathering, new police stations, New York Police Department, NYPD, police budget of Rs 490 crore, Police has a workforce of 40000 people, Prafulla Marpakwar, sensitive operation, TNN, valor of late Chief Karkare, Vijay Salaskar, We the people | 1 Comment »
