Mumbai constable survives terror attacks to recount horror

Mumbai, Nov 29 (PTI) A constable, who was in the hijacked
Mumbai police vehicle, survived the Wednesday night mayhem to
recount the horror of how Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) chief
Hemant Karkare and two other top officers of Mumbai police
were gunned down inside the Toyota Qualis by a terrorist duo
fleeing from the railway station.

Injured Constable Arun Jadhav was in the vehicle whose
tyre burst when the desperadoes had commandeered it in their
attempt to flee from police chase.

Karkare, encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar and
Additional Commissioner of Police Ashok Kamte, who were all
travelling in the same vehicle, were shot dead along with
three constables by the terrorists.

The top officers were on way to Cama Hospital, just a
10-minute drive from railway station, to check on another
injured officer Sadanand Date.
"When we were informed that Sadanand Date has been
injured at the firing in Cama Hospital Karkare, Kamte,
Salaskar and four constables left from railway station to the
spot.

"Five minutes later, two persons carrying AK-47 rifles
emerged from behind a tree and started firing at out vehicle,"
said Jadhav, who was hit by two bullets in his right arm and
is recuperating in the Bombay Hospital.

Sitting on his bed on the 14th floor of the hospital,
Jadhav, who has been in the police service for the past 12
years, said the exact number of shots fired at the
police car was not known, but the three top officers and as
many constables were killed on the spot. Jadhav was the only
person in the vehicle who survived.

"I have been working with Salaskar my entire police
career but I could not do anything to save his life," he said
with tears rolling down his his eyes.

While Salaskar was at the wheel, Kamte was in the front
seat and Karkare in the second row with the four Constables,
including Jadhav, at the back seat.

"The two terrorists then came up to our vehicle and
pulled out Karkare, Kamte and Salaskar's bodies out and threw
them on the road. Thinking that we (Constables) are also dead,
the terrorists then got into the car and started driving
towards Metro junction," Jadhav said.

They fired three rounds at journalists and police vans
standing at Metro junction and then sped away towards Vidhan
Bhawan in south Mumbai, where again they fired some rounds.

"The terrorists then started driving from Vidhan Bhawan
when the car's tyre burst. They then got off the car and ran
towards another vehicle," he said.

Jadhav then got in touch with the police control and
informed them about the death of Karkare, Kamte, Salaskar and
the three Constables.

"Additional Commissioner of Police (ATS) Parambir Singh
and other police officers then rushed to the spot and took the
bodies to St George hospital," Jadhav said. PTI