Mumbai Police split wide open

However,while Kamte,Vijay Salaskar and Karkares relatives have been contesting the police version of their deaths for a long time,its remarks attributed to the man who headed the Mumbai Police at the time of the attacks that perhaps came as the most shocking.

The Week magazine carried an interview by Hassan Gafoor in which he was quoted as pointing fingers at some of the top officers and accusing them of failing to take on the terrorists on 26/11. Gafoor was incidentally promoted and transferred out from the post of commissioner days before the Ram Pradhan Committee,that blamed him for poor leadership during the terror attack,was made public in June.

The interview quotes Gafoor as saying,among other things,that four senior Mumbai Police IPS officers shirked duty on the night of November 26 and uncharacteristically even goes on to name them. He is also quoted as accusing a senior but unnamed state police officer of wanting to pull out the National Security Guard (NSG) from the counter-offensive as the elite commandos were taking too long,and that political considerations played a part in the action against him in the aftermath of the attack. Gafoor has denied the contentious parts of the interview; The Week has said that it stands by it.

An angry state government has launched an informal inquiry into the matter. The four police officers allegedly named by him have also threatened legal action.

The reported comments and their timing,by a top cop known to be media-shy,have again focused the spotlight on groupism within the state police. However,while the officers and the constabulary in the Mumbai Police have long been known to be identified on regional and even political lines,few expected the low-profile,loner Gafoor to be caught in the kind of controversy he finds himself now in.

A 1974-batch officer and the son of a top IAS officer,Gafoors appointment as Mumbai Police Commissioner in March 2008 was considered to be a breath of fresh air. He was efficient,soft-spoken,unassuming and not known to belong to any camp. He was also only the second Muslim police chief of Mumbai.

On that night,Gafoor was stationed outside the Trident-Oberoi hotels and was largely coordinating the police operations through the Central Control Room,which he put in the charge of Maria. That in itself became a controversial decision as the Mumbai Police emergency SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) says that the head of the law and order unit needs to take charge of the Control Room. Gafoor also became the target of ridicule for allegedly just sitting in his car outside the Trident,and the Pradhan Committee report said that he did not take the lead in handling the situation and lacks leadership qualities.

While Gafoor voiced his anger over the criticism in private,he had maintained a dignified silence in public until his reported comments.

The controversy has also raised doubts over Gafoors chances of becoming the states next police chief even though he is one of the four officers in the running for the job. However,one senior state police officer known to be close to Gafoor sought to explain the controversy. During the Pradhan Committee scrutiny,Gafoor didnt speak against anyone and he expected the others to follow suit, the officer told The Indian Express. Unfortunately some officers are believed to have spoken out against him. Gafoor did not get a chance to respond then and he may have chosen to do so now. This seems like a culmination of all the groupism in the force.