Court orders probe into Karkare’s missing bullet-proof jacket

MUMBAI - After a long legal wrangle, a Mumbai court Monday ordered the city police to investigate the missing bullet-proof jacket of former Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare, who was killed in a gunbattle with terrorists during the 26/11 terror attacks.

Mazagaon Metropolitan Court Magistrate R.K. Malabade Monday ordered the senior inspector of the Sir J.J. Marg police station to register a first information report (FIR) in the case and report to him by Jan 30, 2010.

A Mumbai citizen, Santosh Daundkar had moved the court complaining about the missing bullet-proof jacket from the Sir J.J. Hospital where Karkare’s body was taken for an autopsy after he was shot dead at Cama Hospital in the early hours of Nov 27 last year.

“It is a complaint against some unknown accused and hence at this stage following the reply given under the Right to Information Act, 2005, by the police to Kavita, wife of the deceased Karkare, the court is of the opinion that prima facie this is a fit case to carry out investigation,” Malabade noted.

“Once the FIR is lodged, the police would be armed with statutory powers to search, carry out seizures, summon witnesses or arrest offenders. Moreover, the case can now be closed only on the orders of the court,” said former IPS officer turned lawyer Y.P. Singh.

Earlier, Maharashtra’s new home minister R.R. Patil had ordered the Mumbai Police Crime Branch to probe the missing jacket after Kavita Karkare brought the matter to his notice.

Later, Union Home Minister P. Chidambaram had also apologized to Kavita Karkare over the issue of the missing jacket.