A TRIBUTE TO MARTYRS

First and foremost hats off to the guys of operation CYCLONE and BLACK TORNADO. National Security Guard (NSG), Marine Commandos (MARCOS) fought the might of Terrorists and saved many lives knowing well that their life is in danger. Kudos to them.

I would like to profile few policemen who lost their valuable lives in fighting the terrorists.

Hemant Karkare. Vijay Salaskar. Ashok Kamte, Major Unnikrishnan. These men, who fell to the bullets as terror raised its ugly head again in Mumbai, were all professionals highly specialized in their chosen field of law enforcement and were held in high esteem.

Mr. Karkare was on his way home when he heard about the terror attack at the Trident. He was heading there when he was told that the firing at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) was much more severe. Near the CST station senior officer Sadanand Date was holding off the terrorists holed up in a lane alongside the Cama and Albless Hospital. Armed with automatic weapons, Karkare, Kamte and Salaskar got into a jeep and rushed to take on the terrorists. Unfortunately, the terrorists proved much too lethal for them and all three were gunned down.

HEMANT KARKARE

Hemant Karkare, Maharashta Police's Anti-Terrorism Squad chief, was among the 11 police officials who were killed while fighting terrorists in Mumbai on Thursday. Karkare, a 1982 batch IPS officer, had returned to his state cadre after a seven-year tenure with the Research and Analysis Wing, Indian external intelligence agency, in Austria. Hemanth Karkare, was under immense pressure investigating the Malegaon blasts. Politicians from all quarters were making baseless allegations against a man of integrity. He managed to keep the issue apolitical and continue with the investigation. One should admire the decision of Mrs Karkare to refuse the compensation of Rs 1 crore offered by Mr. Narendra Modi, the very man who had blasted Karkare for his handling of Malegaon blasts. Mr. Karkare was known for his discipline and sense of fairness. Appointed ATS chief in January this year, he was instrumental in cracking the September 2008 Malegaon bomb blasts.

VIJAY SALASKAR

Encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar on the other hand belonged to the Mumbai’s very own group of ‘untouchables’ who won accolades for their much-publicised ‘encounter killings’ targeting wanted gangsters and criminals. Mr. Salaskar was a quiet man who had an air of confidence about him. A key member of Mumbai police’s exclusive and somewhat controversial “encounter” squad, he is said to have killed close to 75 criminals. Known for his ability to weed out information about underworld gang activities in Mumbai, Mr. Salaskar was often at the helm of combating gang wars in the city. A 1983 batch officer, he was appointed the head of the anti-extortion cell at the Crime Branch.

ASHOK KAMTE

Mr. Ashok Kamte was known for his fearless ways. A 1989 batch IPS officer, he was very popular when he was commissioner of police in Solapur. A close associate said even after he left Solapur he was treated as hero whenever he was in town. Daring, but with an exceptionally cool head made Ashok Kamte an excellent negotiator in crisis situations - a quality for which he was summoned late Thursday night to deal with terrorists holed up in Mumbai buildings. Kamte, a 1989 batch IPS officer of Maharashtra cadre, who died fighting terrorists near Mumbai's Metro cinema, was one of the brightest of his batch, and one of the few officers who dared to take on challenges directly. Having undergone special training for negotiating hostage situations, Kamte was chosen to tackle one of the worst crisis faced by the financial capital of the country. "A cop that turned Solapur from a wrong city to the right one. The person who every responsible Solapurkar liked and loved. This community has been created to pay the respect and gratitude that he deserves," wrote one of his fans on the social networking web site. Survived by his wife and two children, Kamte had a panache for body building during his college days. His friends at the IPS academy also remember him as a great athlete and one of the brightest cadets of his batch.

MAJOR UNNIKRISHNAN

"Do not come up, I will handle them", these were probably the last words which Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan told his men as he was hit by bullets while engaging terrorists inside the Taj. "Major Unnikrishnan was rescuing an injured commando when he was hit," Director-General of NSG J K Dutt said after he announced mission accomplished at the Taj and quoted the slain major as telling his crack team, "Do not come up, I will handle them".
"During the operation, when a commando got injured Unnikrishnan arranged for his evacuation and started chasing the terrorists himself," a senior National Security Guards (NSG) official said here. The terrorists escaped to another floor of the hotel and during the chase Unnikrishnan was seriously injured and succumbed to his injuries, the official said.
It was Unnikrishnan's second deputation with the elite NSG force. Unnnikrishnan was commissioned in the 7th Bihar Regiment of the Army in 1999 and he first served the NSG during 1996-99 and again came back to it's 51 Special Action Group (SAG) in January 2007.
The 31-year-old officer was the lone son of his parents who hailed from Bangalore.

GAJENDER SINGH

The other braveheart, Havildar Gajender Singh, was a specialist in heli-borne operations. "Gajender Singh was chosen for the Nariman House operation as he qualified for the job extremely well. He was leading the slithering act and its follow up action," the NSG official said while paying homage to the slain commandos at the NSG headquarters in the national capital.