Some jawans fired on their own, says Kadam

February 11: Suspended State Reserve Police Sub-inspector M Y Kadam, responsible for ordering firing at a rampaging crowd at Ramabai Nagar o...

February 11: Suspended State Reserve Police Sub-inspector M Y Kadam, responsible for ordering firing at a rampaging crowd at Ramabai Nagar on July 11 last year, today told the Gundewar Commission that he was not sure if all the jawans had followed his orders of aiming below the waist. He added that though the two rounds of firing were ordered by him, some of the jawans had also fired on their own. As the targets were moving some may have hit above the waist also. Ten persons were killed in the firing.

A frail Kadam finally deposed before the Commission after remaining absent on several occasions on health grounds.

He said he ordered his jawans to open fire as the violent crowd was swelling steadily. The officer said when he reached the spot after receiving a message on his wireless, there wasn’t a single policeman present and a crowd of around 4,000 people was raising slogans. He said he had no idea whether the mob had come from Kamrajnagar or Ramabai Nagar, nor was he aware of the cause of the trouble.Sensing trouble, he said, he sent a message to the Chembur control asking for more force. He was told that all local police as well as SRP had been asked to proceed towards Ramabai Nagar.

However, before the reinforcement could arrive the crowd swelled to around 7,000 and he ordered firing. Kadam recalled that on both the occasions when his platoon opened fire the mob was at a distance of 30-35 feet from them. He added that 50 rounds were fired in a span of 14 to 15 minutes at two spots separated by a distance of about 500 to 600 feet.

Kadam said that fifteen minutes after the firing, ACP More came to the spot and he (Kadam) gave an oral report on the firing. Later, other officials too reached the spot. The day’s proceedings at the commission today were adjourned much before the scheduled time, following a request by the counsel for commission, Vijay Pradhan, as Kadam was quite unwell.

Earlier, the Commission rejected an application filed by the Congress counsel, B A Desai, requesting that Kadam’saffidavit should not be taken into account during his examination-in-chief. Desai reasoned that what Kadam was saying in his cross-examination was at variance with what has been recorded in his affidavit.

In his affidavit filed before the Gundewar Commission Kadam had stated that before ordering firing he had asked his jawans to lathi-charge a crowd which was trying to set an oil tanker afire. He had said there were two tankers stationed next to each other and that an explosion could have been disastrous.