Mumbai: Police on Tuesday registered an FIR
against unidentified persons for allegedly hatching a criminal
conspiracy and stealing bullet-proof jacket of former
Maharashtra ATS chief Hemant Karkare, who was shot dead by
terrorists during the 26/11 terror attacks near Cama hospital.
The FIR was registered in J J Marg police station in
south Mumbai on an order passed by Mazgaon metropolitan
magistrate following a complaint made by social activist
Santosh Daundkar in this regard.
The magistrate had ordered the police to probe the
missing jacket of Karkare and file an FIR.
The accused were booked under sections 379 (theft) and
120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code, Senior
Inspector Khanderao Patil said.
"According to the complainant, the bullet proof jacket
was lost after Karkare was taken to J J Hospital for post-
mortem report. We are probing the matter in all possible
angles," said Patil, refusing to divulge further details.
Police sources said those who took the body to the
hospital and were involved in the process of post-mortem would
be questioned in the case.
Daundkar (35) said that Karkare and his family should
get justice and that was the reason why he had filed an FIR.
"The bullet proof jacket had not gone missing but it was
stolen. The government had procured sub-standard jackets. High
level corruption took place while procuring these jackets.
This is what the government wants to hide," Daundkar alleged.
"The court has asked police to submit a report in this
regard by January 30," he said, adding that the bullet-proof
jacket was a vital piece of evidence in the backdrop of
allegations that it was defective and had therefore led to
Karkare`s death.
The complainant`s lawyer Y P Singh said this was a very
serious issue and the probe would unravel how and when the
jacket went missing. "We strongly suspect powerful and
influential men would be involved in the case," Singh said.
Earlier, Maharashtra Home Minister R R Patil had ordered
the Mumbai Police Crime Branch to probe the missing jacket
after Karkare`s wife Kavita brought the matter to his notice.
She had learnt through RTI that the bullet-proof jacket
was missing.
PTI
