Rakesh Maria

Mumbai, Nov. 27: The 26/11 attack left more than bloodstains on their uniforms and the city’s police force is now washing the dirty linen in public.

A day after the first anniversary of the terror strikes, Mumbai’s crime branch boss Rakesh Maria sent shockwaves through the establishment after word was out that he was ready to quit his job.

Maria’s role has been under the scanner over the past month. Vinita Kamte, the wife of slain officer Ashok Kamte, has accused Maria of hiding the truth pertaining to the events of the night of 26/11 and not doing enough to provide security to senior officers Hemant Karkare, Vijay Salaskar and her husband.

The three had been ambushed by Mohammed Ajmal Kasab and his associate Ismail when they were travelling in a police vehicle in search of the terrorists.

The allegation, levelled in a book written by Vinita Kamte, has added fuel to the fire sparked by Hassan Gafoor, Mumbai’s police commissioner at the time of the attacks. Gafoor, in an interview to a magazine, had alleged that many senior personnel of his force were scared to be out on the streets on 26/11.

Vinita Kamte, who released her book To the Last Bullet yesterday to mark the first anniversary of the attacks and her husband’s death, has slammed Maria for inaction.

She says in her book that Karkare, Salaskar and her husband were not provided with correct information on the terrorists’ location as they entered the lane where they were shot.

“Maria has to take the blame for misinforming police commissioner Hassan Gafoor. At 1 ’clock on the night when there are four calls that have come to the control room saying they are moving Mr Kamte, Karkare and Salaskar to the hospital, the commissioner of police, as he stands outside Trident hotel, knows about it. But Maria, who is manning the police control room, says he does not know that the officers were shot at. He says he does not know that Karkare was at Cama hospital. This, when Mr Karkare had given a call at 11.24pm to the control room saying he was at Cama hospital. Is this not strange?” Vinita Kamte said today.

Maria is livid. “This is a cheap gimmick to promote a book. I plan to meet home minister R.R. Patil and ask the government to clarify or let me have the chance to clarify so my name is not dragged in the mud,” he said this morning.

Maria claims he did the best he could on that fateful night, “given that there were over a thousand calls pouring into the police control room”.

The officer, now joint commissioner (crime), who announced this morning he would meet Maharashtra home minister Patil on the matter, had not done so till evening. Chief minister Ashok Chavan’s office issued a statement today saying the government had not received any resignation letter from Maria.

“The home minister will talk to him. We will solve the matter. There is no rift in Mumbai police, it is all media creation,” Chavan said.

Vinita Kamte says her allegations are based on police logs that she won access to through the Right to Information Act.