JJ sweeper says he found a jacket in garbage

After Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare was gunned down by alleged terrorists Ajmal Kasab and his accomplice Abu Ismail on the night of November 26 last year, controversy quickly followed over the quality of bulletproof jackets used by the Mumbai Police.

After Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare was gunned down by alleged terrorists Ajmal Kasab and his accomplice Abu Ismail on the night of November 26 last year, controversy quickly followed over the quality of bulletproof jackets used by the Mumbai Police.

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The mystery deepened after Karkare’s bulletproof jacket went missing.

On Tuesday, Dinesh Lalji Gataar (35), a sweeper with JJ Hospital, in a statement recorded by a metropolitan magistrate, said that on November 27, 2008, he found a bulletproof jacket along with other bio-medical and non-medical waste.

He said he put the jacket in a bag along with other non-medical waste. His statement was recorded after social activist Santosh Daundkar sought a probe into the missing jacket. Reacting to Gataar’s statement, Karkare’s widow Kavita said: “I’ve lost all hope of getting justice. I do not believe in this [statement].”

Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Chandra Iyengar said: “I would not like to comment. On matters related to the police, official information will come from the official spokesperson.”

Home Minister R R Patil also refused to comment saying the matter is sub-judice.

A senior police officer in the police commissioner’s office said the jacket may have been lost in the confusion of the
injured and dead being wheeled into local hospitals.

If found, Karkare’s jacket will help determine if Mumbai Police’s jackets at the time were indeed of inferior quality.