Thursday, November 26, 2009

Chidambaram apologises to Kavita Karkare on NDTV

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n an exclusive interview on NDTV, the Home Minister concedes that it is shoddy of the Mumbai police to have misplaced the bulletproof vest of Hemant Karakare, who died while defending Mumbai in the 26/11 attacks. Speaking on whether India is any safer a year after 26/11, P Chidambaram said he could only say sorry for the lapse.

Hemant Karkare was the chief of the Anti-Terror Squad. He was killed on the night of 26/11 near Cama Hospital, along with Additional Police Commissioner, Ashok Kamte, and encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar.

His wife, Kavita, says she has filed an application under the Right to Information Act to locate the jacket but was told there was no sign of it. There have been allegations that the bulletproof vest that Karkare was wearing when he was shot was defective.

"It is being said that my husband, Ashok Kamte and Vijay Salskar got killed as they went into the operation blindly but the truth is they kept asking for reinforcements and help for 40 minutes which they never got. For 40 minutes, their bodies were there on the road while the terrorists' bodies were rushed to the hospital. They have spent Rs 22 crore on preserving the bodies of the nine terrorists. But they couldn't be careful enough to preserve my husband's bulletproof jacket," she said.

Watch the entire interview with P Chidambaram at 9:30 pm tonight on NDTV 24X7.

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

NSG to get IAF aircraft for operations

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ew Delhi, Nov 25 (PTI) After getting the power to requisition any aircraft during emergencies, the NSG has got the approval of the Indian Air Force to use its planes to transport commandos for anti-terror duties.

The NSG, in the aftermath of the November 26 Mumbai attacks last year, had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with eight different private airlines enabling it to requisition any aircraft for immediate transport of commandos.

"It has been officially formalised that the IAF will provide us air support in case any assistance is needed. The Air Force will also assist in training," National Security Guard (NSG) Director General N P S Aulak said.

"We are thinking of having helicopters, which in a way would be a dedicated one (for NSG), but they would either be with the Air Force or with the Home ministry's air wing.