Mumbai, March 26: The chief of the Maharashtra anti-terrorism squad (ATS) was abruptly shunted out of his post on Thursday, days after he revealed sensitive information to the media about a terrorist plot.
K.P. Raghuvanshi, the ATS chief, disclosed several details about a plot that was being hatched by Abdul Latif and Riyaz Ali, two residents of Mumbai, who were arrested a few days ago. They were allegedly targetting the Mangaldas market, a shopping mall and the ONGC office in Bandra.
Raghuvanshi had told the media that the duo were constantly in touch with a handler in Pakistan, who was being referred to as ‘uncle.’ Intelligence agencies were also tracking the telephonic calls, but after the ATS chief disclosed the information, they lost track of the handler in Pakistan, reveal sources.
An annoyed federal government then directed the state government to take action against the ATS chief for alerting the handlers.
Maharashtra chief minister Ashok Chavan last week told reporters that the federal government was unhappy with Raghuvanshi for having given out sensitive information to the media. The federal home ministry had sought an explanation from the state government and had directed it to take action against police officeres who were hankering after publicity.
With the proliferation of news channels and the exhaustive coverage provided by them to terrorist attacks and plots, there is a growing tendency on the part of senior police officers to reveal sensitive information.
Some officers, enamoured by the limelight, blabber away confidential details in front of the television cameras. Others have been hastily revealing terrorist plots, hoping to score points over rivals, perhaps even win a medal or two.
A senior police officer, who is involved with intelligence operations, told this correspondent that many of the top Indian Police Service (IPS) officers were more interested in giving news bytes to channels all day long and watching their ‘performance’ on their TVs at night, instead of pursuing criminals or leads on possible terror attacks.
Raghuvanshi, who is of the rank of an additional director-general of police, was on Thursday shifted to law and order, while Rakesh Maria, the joint commissioner of police (crime), Mumbai, replaced him as the ATS chief. Raghuvanshi was the first chief of the ATS when it was set up in 2004.
He was later replaced by Hemant Karkare, who was killed in an encounter with the 26/11 terrorists outside the Cama hospital in Mumbai. The Maharashtra government later re-appointed Raghuvanshi as the ATS chief, following directions from the Bombay High Court.
–Agencies