Ashok Kamte: A daring officer

Daring, but with an exceptionally cool head made Ashok Kamte an excellent negotiator in crisis situations -- a quality for which he was summoned late Wednesday night to deal with terrorists holed up in Mumbai buildings.

Kamte, a 1989 batch IPS officer of Maharashtra cadre, who died fighting terrorists near Mumbai's Metro cinema, was one of the brightest of his batch, and one of the few officers who dared to take on challenges directly.

Having undergone special training for negotiating hostage situations, Kamte was chosen to tackle one of the worst crisis faced by the financial capital of the country.

The Mumbai Police specially summoned him to undertake the operation at Metro Cinema near Cama Hospital in the city where he laid down his life fighting terrorists along with encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar.

Deputy Commissioner of Police in Mumbai, Kamte was a key officer in the state police. He had also served as the Commissioner of Solapur where he became a hero among locals.

With over 400 fans on his Orkut profile, Kamte enjoyed a lot of respect during his tenure at Solapur.

"A cop that turned Solapur from a wrong city to the right one. The person who every responsible Solapurkar liked and loved. This community has been created to pay the respect and gratitude that he deserves," wrote one person on the social networking web site.

Survived by his wife and two children, Kamte had a panache for body building during his college days. His friends at the IPS academy also remember him as a great athlete and one of the brightest cadets of his batch.

Assignments in Police Career

An Indian Police Service officer of the 1989 batch of the Maharashtra Cadre

Service Record
1989 - Joined state as an Indian Police Service officer
1991 - Posted as Assistant Superintendent of Police in Bhandara
1994 - Superintendent of Police, Satara
1997 - 99 - Superintendent of Police, Thane rural
1999 - 2000: U N Mission, Bosnia
2000 - 2002: DCP, zone-1 Mumbai
2002 - 2004: Superintendent of Police, Sangli
2004 - 2005: Superintendent of Police, Kolhapur
2006 - 2008: Commissioner of Police, Solapur
June 2008 - Nov 2008: Additional Commissioner of Police, East zone, Mumbai

Service Medals

1995 - Special service medal anti-naxalite operations
1999 - UN medal
1999 - Videsh seva medal for UN service
2004 - Awarded DG's insignia
2005 - Antarik Suraksha Padak for anti-naxalite operations
2006 - Police medal

Solapur:-

Kamte came into media limelight after an August 2007 in cident in Solapur when he arrested
Ravikant Patil, a three-time Member of the Legislative Assembly from Indi in neighboring
Karnataka. Patil and his supporters were celebrating at the residence of Patil's brother Ravikant, a Shiv Sena leader. They scuffled when police tried to enforce the law a gainst bursting of crackers late in the night. Kamte sustained hand injuries in the process of arresting Patil. Patil suffered multiple wounds ^[4]. The incident created an uproar in political circles but the people of Solapur supported Kamte. Kamte told the Times of India: "Law is equal for all and nobody has the right to violate it".

During Mumbai's occasional communal violence between Hindus and Muslims, the areas under his supervision remained largely free of riots. He was known to be a secular officer and equally loved and respected by both communities.

"He was a daredevil officer who had gained popularity matching [that of] a Bollywood hero. He himself was on the roads maintaining peace after the Khairlanji massacre. While other cities in the state witnessed violence, Solapur remained calm", said Anand Salunkhe, former member of Solapur Municipal Transport.

Nearly 3000 people turned up to pay their respects to Additional Commissioner of Police Ashok Kamte who was cremated in Pune with full state honours. Kamte was one of the most respected and admired officers of the Mumbai Police force. News of his death sent shock waves not just across Maharasthra but across South India, where he had served in Belgaum for a period.

He was specially summoned on Wednesday night to deal with the terrorists who had laid siege to Mumbai. Kamte was part of the 1989 batch of the IPS of the Maharashtra cadre^[5].

Kamte was shot along with Vijay Salaskar in a narrow lane between St. Xaviers College and Rang Bhavan by the terrorists. Kamte was probably one of the few officers in the police force who won the admiration of the public, as can be seen on the social networking site Orkut, where more than 2000 fans have set up a community in his honour. A facebook site from his high school has a lot of photos.

"A cop that turned Solapur from a wrong city to the right one. The person who every responsible Solapurkar liked and loved. This community has been created to pay the respect and gratitude that he deserves," Survived by his wife and two children, Kamte is remembered by his friends at the IPS Academy as well as journalists that interacted with him as one of the bravest officers, ready to face any challenge in the line of duty"

Kamte was one of the 14 men from the police force who lost their lives in Mumbai's latest and biggest fight against terror.

Death

Ashok Kamte was killed in action by terrorists during the Mumbai attacks, on 26 November, 2008 in a narrow lane between St. Xavier's College and the Rang Bhavan opposite Corporation Bank ATM just a stone away from Crime Branch office.

As Mr. kamte was known for his cool temperament and negotiation skills he was summoned when attack began. He was Additional Commissioner of East zone which was not under attack. When he reached CST area he met ATS Chief Hemant Karkare and others. They took Qualis jeep from Azad Maidan Police Station (AMPS), Kamte taking AK 47 himself. When they reached rear entrance of the Cama and Albless Hospital ( Cama ) which is next to AMPS, Kamte fired at terrorists, to which the terrorists retaliated with handgranade so Kamte suggested to take on terrorists from front entrance of Cama. By then the terrorists had left Cama sensing trouble. As the cops were moving they received wireless message that terrorists were hiding behind a red car in the same lane. At that time they spotted a terrorist running, Kamte fired, injuring him. He was Kasab lone terrorist captured alive later that night. As they were about to get down another Pakistani terrorist, Ibrahim Khan fired volley of bullets killing all but Asst. Police Inspector Arun Jadhav. Kamte was hit in the head although he was wearing helmet ( but no bulletproof jacket ) ( Times of India December 19 2008 )

India Express quotes statements by API Arun Jadhav, who was with the officers Ashok Kamte, Vijay Salaskar and Hemant Karkare when they died.^[7] The three officers and four constables had received information that Sadanand Date had been injured in the gunfire at the Cama and Albless Hospital for women and children. Currently located at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST), a ten-minute drive from the hospital,^[7] they took a Toyota Qualis and proceeded in that direction. Kamte was in the passenger seat, Salaskar driving, Karkare in the second row, and the four Constables, including Jadhav, were in the back row of seating.^[7] According to Jadhav, five minutes later two terrorists stepped out from behind a tree and opened fire with AK-47 automatic rifles.^[7].Kamte was the sole officer who managed to retaliate,wounding terrorist Ajmal in the arm.^[8] The six policemen, other than Jadhav, were all killed quickly in the gunfire.^[7] The wounded Jadhav had no opportunity to render assistance. The two terrorists approached the vehicle, dumped the bodies of the three officers on the road and, leaving the constables for dead, proceeded to Metro Junction.^[7] Upon arrival, they aimed three bursts of automatic fire at police and journalist vehicles drawn up at that location, then drove off towards the government offices (Vidhan Bhawan) in South Mumbai. Here again they fired several times. While attempting to leave the area, one of the tyres of the vehicle burst, so the terrorists departed to obtain another. At this point, Jadhav was able to contact headquarters. The bodies of the dead were promptly recovered and taken to St George Hospital.

The body of Additional Police Commissioner Ashok Kamte, was cremated with State honours at the Vaikunth cremotorium on November 27, 2008. A large number of high-ranking police officers participated in the funeral procession, including: Police Commissioner Satyapal Singh, Joint Commissioner of Police Rajendra Sonawane and district collector Chandrakant Dalvi. Around 3,000 people were present.

ashok kamte biography :-

Ashok Kamte attended The Rajkumar College, Rajkot then Kodaikanal International School for five years, graduating from 12th grade with the Class of 1982. He had been an international scholarship recipient at Camp Rising Sun in 1980. He completed his bachelor's degree from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai graduating in 1985 and post graduate degree in Arts from St. Stephen's College, Delhi 1985-87. An accomplished athlete, he represented India at the junior power-lifting championship in Peru in 1978.

Ashok Kamte was survived by his wife Vinita, two sons Rahul (15) and Arjun (8), his father Colonel M.R. Kamte (Retd.) of the Indian Army, mother, Prem and a sister, Sharmila.