New Delhi, November 11: A year has passed since Hemant Karkare was killed during the events of 26/11.
He died owing to the injuries that he received from bullets that were shot in his chest by the terrorists. However, the much discussed jacket that he was wearing on that occasion is yet to be found.
The efficiency of the ‘bulletproof’ jacket has been debated as the bullets had been able to penetrate the very armor that was supposed to shield him from them.
Kavita Karkare, wife of the deceased hero, had registered an RTI, looking for that particular jacket. However, the Maharashtra state government informed that jacket was nowhere to be found as it had been misplaced in the melee that ensued in those tumultuous hours when the wounded Karkare was brought to the JJ Hospital after being shot and the doctors had removed the jacket from his body.
The Mumbai Police had said that a file that contained information on the buying of the bulletproof armors was missing. However, as per media reports that file is indeed there and it has some important questions regarding the quality of these equipments.
Media reports have quoted sources from within the Mumbai police fraternity that the file is being towed away from public scrutiny in order to avoid any controversy. As per these sources when in 2004 these jackets were taken for testing at the State Reserve Police Force’s firing range they were penetrated by bullets that were fired from AK-47s and self loaded rifles and from a considerable distance.
The opposition created a furore regarding this and they had also stated that there was widespread corruption in the way the bulletproof jackets were being purchased. However, these allegations had been denied by the then chief minister Ashok Chavan.
–IANS