Marshall, No dispute with the fact that political interference is responsible for the sorry state of the police in India today. This was established decades ago.
No dispute also that Hasan Ghafoor was a clean and upright IPS officer. That does not make him a competent one especially in a situation like the terror at the Taj where he fumbled needlessly, waiting for what he perceived was the competent force. That force arrived too late to prevent the slaughter of the "kitchen brigade" - the chefs, cooks and helpers. Two IPS officers Vishwas Nangre-Patil DCP Zone 1 (Colaba area) and Rajvardhan Sinha DCP Special Branch had entered the hotel in the early stages and engaged the terrorists with a mere Glock and a Browning against the AK47s. Having to retreat against superior firepower, they asked Gafoor for police constable reinforcements but were turned down. Its a pity that it was Gafoor and not Rakesh Maria (a man of action, who was put in charge of the police control room at HQ against his wishes) at the command center, or it would have been finished there and then. Roland Sent from Samsung Mobile -------- Original message -------- From: Marshall Mendonza <[email protected]> Date: 12-11-2013 11:23 AM (GMT-05:00) To: goanet <[email protected]> Subject: [Goanet] Terror and the City Roland Francis: The utter incompetence and red tape attitude of then Police Commissioner Abdul Gafoor who delayed brave and willing police from going in to contain the terrorists at an early stage,even at the cost of a possible slaughter (Goa Police are incapable of this). Response: I believe it would be unfair to castigate Mr Hassan Gafoor, a clean,brave and upright officer, without hearing his version on the incident.I have not yet read the book you refer to and I assume that Mr Gafoor's perspective has been unrepresented. The state of affairs of the Police force is indeed sad with political interference and by-passing of the head. Refer to foll. reports: http://archive.tehelka.com/story_main.asp?filename=Ne021404Shambles.asp http://www.ndtv.com/article/india/maharashtra-top-cop-takes-on-state-government-alleges-political-interference-362737 http://www.dnaindia.com/analysis/column-politicians-lay-your-hands-off-the-police-allow-them-to-function-1880850 Regards, Marshall
