Janitor got rid of Karkare's jacket

Slain police officers wife says revelation made under government pressure

Karkare and his two colleagues, additional commissioner of police Ashok Kamte and encounter specialist Inspector Vijay Salaskar, were killed along with three cops in an ambush by two Pakistani terrorists on the 26/11 night behind Cama hospital lane.

Faulty jacket
Since then, controversy has been raging over Karkare’s bullet proof jacket. It has been alleged that the jacket was faulty and was pierced with bullets, and later it came to light that the jacket itself is missing.

A case has been filed before a metropolitan magistrate here by a social activist asking for investigation into the missing jacket. It was in this background that the Janitor’s claim is significant.

In his statement before the magistrate A D Kshirsagar of Esplanade court on Tuesday, the sweeper, Dinesh Lalji Gatar, said: “On the night of November 27, after Karkare’s body was brought to JJ Hospital for autopsy, I had mistakenly put the jacket, along with bio-medical and non-medical waste in polythene bags, which was sent to the Deonar dump grounds for disposal.” After his statement, a crime branch team went to the Deonar dumping ground to do the impossible.

They returned empty handed, as the jacket along with the waste has been presumably destroyed.

Sharp reaction
The statement evoked sharp reaction from Kavita Karkare, wife of the slain officer, who said: “This theory had cropped up now because the government is under pressure.  “I have lost all hopes to get fair justice in this case. I do not believe in this. The government is under pressure and hence this statement at a late juncture,” she said.

What bothers her as well as the crime branch officers is why Dinesh took so long to reveal the mystery behind the missing jacket. He may be put under interrogation to find out the truth, it is learnt.