<p>Maria on Thursday shot off a letter to the Maharashtra home ministry asking it to clarify the allegations or allow him to personally make clarification on the issues raised in the book “To the Last Bullet,” penned by Vinita on her husband.<br /><br />An explosive chapter in the book is based on the information gathered by Vinita through RTI (Right to Information) route, which records conversations between the then police commissioner Hasan Gafoor and Maria, who was manning the Main Control Room, as well as between another slain ATS chief Hemant Karkare and the Control Room.<br /><br />The conversations have been published in the book, which give an impression that while Karkare, Kamte and Inspector Vijay Salaskar were waiting at the eastern end of the Cama hospital, no reinforcement was sent to them for over one hour despite their instructing the Main Control Room for the same.<br /><br />Also, when the three officers were fired at and were lying in the Cama lane, the help came after 40 minutes. The calls show that the main control room was informed about the firing on that side at exactly the same time when it took place, as well as within minutes by another jeep. But the control room took time to act.<br /><br />Another damning revealation in the book is that while Karkare had made known his location at the Cama Hospital for four times during his calls, Maria told Hasan Gafoor that he was not aware of Karkare’s location.<br /><br />The slain IPS officer’s widow has also criticised Maria for denying that he had guided her husband to the Cama Hospital where he fell to terrorists’ bullets.<br /><br />While the home ministry and home minister R R Patil have maintained silence on the book so far, the Ram Pradhan committee which probed the alleged police lapses did not indict any officer. On the contrary, according to the partial report of the committee tabled in the state legislature, Maria came in for lot of praise for his handling of the situation.<br />On her part, Vinita stood by whatever she has written in her book, which was released by none other than the current police chief D Sivanandan.<br /><br />“I am ready to face any questions raised by anyone about everything written in my book. I stand by each and every word. It is based on the facts provided by the Mumbai police using the RTI Act,” she said.<br /><br />Ashok Kamte was having dinner at a Chembur club on the evening of November 26, 2008, when Hasan Gafoor ordered him to “get on the road.” Kamte, who had expertise in fighting extremists, was carrying his own AK-47 and rushed into the thick of things.<br />Vinita has also alleged in her book that an additional commissioner of police along with armed men stood barely 400 metres away from the scene of the action but didn’t proceed to give assistance. Instead, he chose to go in the opposite direction.<br /><br />26/11 trial<br /><br />Meanwhile, Ajmal Kasab’s lawyer Abbas Kazmi on Friday tendered an unconditional apology to the special court hearing the 26/11 Mumbai attacks case for his remark that he did not care about affidavits of witnesses filed by the prosecution. <br />The designated judge M L Tahilyani accepted his apology and withdrew his own observation that Kazmi was a “liar.” <br /><br />The judge had on Thursday called Kazmi a “liar” after he had denied that the special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam had stated in his opening statement on May 8, 2009, that he would file affidavits of witnesses.<br />While apologising to the court on Friday, Kazmi said: “This is a historic trial and I have done my best to defend the accused. What happened yesterday was in the heat of the moment and I tender an unconditional apology.”<br /><br /><br />Police nab Mumbai blast accused <br /><br />The Uttar Pradesh Police have arrested Subhash Yadav, an accused in the 2006 Ghatkopar blast in Mumbai, from Lucknow, reports DHNS.<br /><br />Yadav was held from Thakurganj area in the old city alongwith an accomplice Manoj Singh, a resident of Jharkhand, late on Thursday night, a senior police official here said on Friday. Yadav was involved in the Ghatkopar blast in Mumbai on July 24, 2006. <br /><br />One person was killed and several others were injured in the incident. Subhash and others were allegedly making bombs when the blast occurred. A native of Uttar Pradesh’s Azamgarh district Yadav was involved in criminal activities in Mumbai for the past two decades. He is also suspected to have links with some underworld gangs.</p>
<p>Maria on Thursday shot off a letter to the Maharashtra home ministry asking it to clarify the allegations or allow him to personally make clarification on the issues raised in the book “To the Last Bullet,” penned by Vinita on her husband.<br /><br />An explosive chapter in the book is based on the information gathered by Vinita through RTI (Right to Information) route, which records conversations between the then police commissioner Hasan Gafoor and Maria, who was manning the Main Control Room, as well as between another slain ATS chief Hemant Karkare and the Control Room.<br /><br />The conversations have been published in the book, which give an impression that while Karkare, Kamte and Inspector Vijay Salaskar were waiting at the eastern end of the Cama hospital, no reinforcement was sent to them for over one hour despite their instructing the Main Control Room for the same.<br /><br />Also, when the three officers were fired at and were lying in the Cama lane, the help came after 40 minutes. The calls show that the main control room was informed about the firing on that side at exactly the same time when it took place, as well as within minutes by another jeep. But the control room took time to act.<br /><br />Another damning revealation in the book is that while Karkare had made known his location at the Cama Hospital for four times during his calls, Maria told Hasan Gafoor that he was not aware of Karkare’s location.<br /><br />The slain IPS officer’s widow has also criticised Maria for denying that he had guided her husband to the Cama Hospital where he fell to terrorists’ bullets.<br /><br />While the home ministry and home minister R R Patil have maintained silence on the book so far, the Ram Pradhan committee which probed the alleged police lapses did not indict any officer. On the contrary, according to the partial report of the committee tabled in the state legislature, Maria came in for lot of praise for his handling of the situation.<br />On her part, Vinita stood by whatever she has written in her book, which was released by none other than the current police chief D Sivanandan.<br /><br />“I am ready to face any questions raised by anyone about everything written in my book. I stand by each and every word. It is based on the facts provided by the Mumbai police using the RTI Act,” she said.<br /><br />Ashok Kamte was having dinner at a Chembur club on the evening of November 26, 2008, when Hasan Gafoor ordered him to “get on the road.” Kamte, who had expertise in fighting extremists, was carrying his own AK-47 and rushed into the thick of things.<br />Vinita has also alleged in her book that an additional commissioner of police along with armed men stood barely 400 metres away from the scene of the action but didn’t proceed to give assistance. Instead, he chose to go in the opposite direction.<br /><br />26/11 trial<br /><br />Meanwhile, Ajmal Kasab’s lawyer Abbas Kazmi on Friday tendered an unconditional apology to the special court hearing the 26/11 Mumbai attacks case for his remark that he did not care about affidavits of witnesses filed by the prosecution. <br />The designated judge M L Tahilyani accepted his apology and withdrew his own observation that Kazmi was a “liar.” <br /><br />The judge had on Thursday called Kazmi a “liar” after he had denied that the special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam had stated in his opening statement on May 8, 2009, that he would file affidavits of witnesses.<br />While apologising to the court on Friday, Kazmi said: “This is a historic trial and I have done my best to defend the accused. What happened yesterday was in the heat of the moment and I tender an unconditional apology.”<br /><br /><br />Police nab Mumbai blast accused <br /><br />The Uttar Pradesh Police have arrested Subhash Yadav, an accused in the 2006 Ghatkopar blast in Mumbai, from Lucknow, reports DHNS.<br /><br />Yadav was held from Thakurganj area in the old city alongwith an accomplice Manoj Singh, a resident of Jharkhand, late on Thursday night, a senior police official here said on Friday. Yadav was involved in the Ghatkopar blast in Mumbai on July 24, 2006. <br /><br />One person was killed and several others were injured in the incident. Subhash and others were allegedly making bombs when the blast occurred. A native of Uttar Pradesh’s Azamgarh district Yadav was involved in criminal activities in Mumbai for the past two decades. He is also suspected to have links with some underworld gangs.</p>
