Adieu to a gallant officer

Mumbai Additional Commissioner of police Ashok Kamte was all set to come to Pune on December 3 to celebrate his elder son Rahul’s birthday. Wanting to keep it a surprise, he had applied for leave in advance. However, fate had willed otherwise as the senior police officer was gunned down by terrorists in Mumbai.

On Thursday, Kamte’s body was brought by road from J J Hospital, Mumbai, to their ancestral house at Rakshak Society at 1.15 pm. His sister-in-law and former mayor Vandana Chavan accompanied Kamte’s wife Vinita and son Rahul to Mumbai and collected the body from J J Hospital at 6.30 am and brought the body by ambulance.

Chavan said that from what Kamte told his wife during a conversation last night, it was clear that the senior officer was “excited” to go for the operation.

It seems he told his boys that they better eat something for they had a long night ahead. He told Vinita that he was going for the operation and when she called him up to inform him about some relatives being stranded in Mumbai, he just told her, “I am in the midst of the operation.”

Sons Rahul and Arjun were told by Vinita that their father died a brave man and that they should not shed tears, added Chavan. Ailing father and retired army officer Marutrao Kamte, who was to go for a battery of tests, said, “My son was a brave officer.’’

Coming from a family with an Army background, with his grandfather being the first director general of police of the state, Marutrao Kamte would call his son a “tiger.”

Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rajendra Singh, a batchmate of Kamte, described him as one of the fittest IPS officers in the country. “He was one of the best officers in anti-terrorist operations,’’he said.

“He was an upright officer and a thorough gentleman,” said a constable. “A good sportsperson, he also led a Hockey team and was a wrestling champ,” said J Kuchekar of the Maharashtra Hockey Association.

Deputy Commissioner of State Intelligence Sanjay Jadhav said that Kamtre will always remain an inspiration. “He set up the special security training school at Hadapsar, Pune.’’

... contd.