ہندوستان میں مغلیہ دور میں تعلیم

 

Who Killed Hemant Karkare?

Unmasking the Shadows of 26/11 

By Amjad Zafar Ali (Author & Historian) Kasur, Pakistan

For years, India has blamed Pakistan for the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, pointing to groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and evidence linking the attackers to Pakistani soil and this blame game goes on till now. But as the city burned and chaos unfolded, a deeper mystery was unfolding the death of Hemant Karkare, Chief of Maharashtra’s Anti-Terrorism Squad.

Known for his integrity and bold investigations, Karkare had exposed links between right-wing Hindu groups like Abhinav Bharat, RSS, and VHP to terror cases like the Malegaon blasts. His work rattled powerful circles. Some believe his death during the 26/11 attacks wasn’t random it was a planned silencing.

Was Karkare simply a victim of target in a darker, internal game? Let’s Discuss.

The Attack:

On the night of 26/11, when Mumbai was under attack and the city was in chaos, a brave and honest man lost his life, known as Hemant Karkare, the Chief of Maharashtra’s Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS). But was he just another victim of the terror strikes, or was there something deeper going on?

Some independent sources believe that Karkare’s death was not an accident or random. They say it was part of a planned move to get rid of him. Why? Because Karkare was not just fighting terrorists but was also investigating terror groups within India that were connected to right-wing organizations like Abhinav Bharat, RSS, and VHP. His work on the 2006 and 2008 Malegaon blasts, the Samjhauta Express, and the Ahmedabad bomb blasts led to the arrest of high-profile people like Pragya Singh Thakur and Lieutenant Colonel Purohit. His actions made many powerful people uncomfortable.

‘Operation Kill K’: A Choreographed Elimination?

A theory, heavily detailed in the writings of former IG of Police S.M. Mushrif and investigative authors like Elias Davidsson, suggests that the Indian Intelligence Bureau (IB) was complicit, if not central, in planning Karkare’s death. The claim? That the IB facilitated the logistics of the Mumbai attacks, embedding specific operatives whose core mission was to eliminate Karkare.

According to this version, two operatives allegedly from the IB’s covert assets were placed in a specially arranged Skoda vehicle. They were reportedly tasked with assassinating Karkare. One was to be killed later in a staged encounter; the other would be kept alive to spin the official narrative. But the script went off-track when both were killed during an unexpected police shootout at Chowpatty due to a communications lapse.

The Mysterious Case of Ajmal Kasab:

It is claimed that Kasab had been in Indian custody since before 2006, allegedly picked up in Nepal as a common tactic, as per critics, used by Indian agencies to nab Pakistani nationals for later use in orchestrated scenarios. The Times of India (Dec 2008) quoted lawyer C.M. Farooque stating that the terrorists “spoke fluent Marathi.” Bhushan Gagrani, a senior IAS officer, also confirmed that a staffer communicated with a terrorist in Marathi on the night of the attacks.

If this is true, it raises unsettling questions. Were these really foreign attackers, or had someone else infiltrated the operation?

Karkare Led into a Trap:

Testimony from wireless operator Nitin Mathane in the Special Court revealed that Karkare, after receiving intel at CST around 10 PM, met senior officers Vasant Koregaonkar, Sanjay Mohite, and KP Raghuvanshi, who misinformed him that the terrorists had crossed the footbridge. In reality, they hadn't.

Why did Raghuvanshi mislead Karkare?

Was he knowingly pushing him toward a trap?

Even more mysteriously, CCTV footage at CST, specifically from the 16 cameras covering the exact location where Karkare was killed, was found to be non-functional. Other cameras at CST worked perfectly. Coincidence? Unlikely. A similar CCTV failure was noted in the 2008 Ahmedabad and Surat blasts, in which stolen vehicles passed through a toll naka whose cameras were also mysteriously tampered with.

Call Records and the Curious Case of Silent Phones:

The crime branch’s chargesheet claimed that 284 VoIP calls were made to terrorists from abroad. But surprisingly, Kasab and Ismail, the two alleged terrorists involved in Karkare's death, received not a single one.

And then there’s the photograph. The now-infamous image of Kasab at CST, rifle in hand, was credited to Mumbai Mirror photographer Sebastian D’Souza. But another photo, with an identical angle and background, appeared in the Marathi daily Pudhari on November 28, labeled as CCTV footage. Experts later questioned the photo’s authenticity, suggesting the frame was too narrow for a railway platform like CST.

Why were images of other terrorists at the Taj and Trident clearly captured on CCTV never released to the public?

What were the Crime Branch, the IB, and the state machinery hiding?

Aftermath: A Change in ATS Leadership:

Once Hemant Karkare was eliminated, the appointment of IPS officer KP Raghuvanshi as the new ATS chief was swift. The course of investigations into the Malegaon case was reversed. Accused like Pragya Thakur, Himani Savarkar, Milind Ekbote and retired officers of Indian army including Colonel Purohit and Colonel Chitale were soon out of jail. The narrative shifted, and the spotlight on right-wing terror dimmed.

Pragya Thakur was not only a free woman but served as Member of Parliament ironically, sitting on India’s Defense Committee.

A Lone Warrior Silenced:

Hemant Karkare was more than a police officer; he was a thorn in the side of a powerful nexus that, if these claims are to be believed, will go to any lengths to maintain its grip. His assassination served to protect the accused in cases like the Malegaon and Samjhauta Express blasts. He was, as some put it, “a lone warrior against the Sang Parivar.”

And when the dust settled, the records were rewritten, the accused walked free, and a new version of history began to take root.

Closing Thoughts:

Hemant Karkare and the 166 innocent lives lost during the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. While the official narrative stands tall, there are many who continue to question its gaps, inconsistencies, and eerie silences. Mushrif, having served as Inspector General of Police in Maharashtra, writes not with conjecture but with chilling documentation. Whether one agrees with these claims or not, one thing is certain: justice demands scrutiny. And the truth no matter how inconvenient deserves to be known.

India has consistently blamed Pakistan for the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, pointing to evidence that the terrorists came from Pakistani soil and were supported by groups like Lashkar-e-Taiba and failed to provide concrete evidence. However, the article suggests there may be more to the story raising questions about the suspicious death of Hemant Karkare, the head of Maharashtra’s Anti-Terrorism Squad, on the same night.

Karkare was investigating homegrown extremist groups linked to right-wing Hindu organizations like Abhinav Bharat, RSS, and VHP. His work had led to arrests that upset powerful circles in India. Some independent voices believe that his killing during the chaos of 26/11 was not just bad luck it may have been part of a larger, hidden agenda to silence him.

So, while the official narrative points the finger at Pakistan, this perspective urges a deeper look within India itself into whether Karkare’s death was truly due to external terror or something more internal and troubling.

Reference:

1. “26/11 Probe - Why Judiciary Also Failed” by S.M. Mushrif

2. “The Betrayal of India: Revisiting the 26/11 Evidence” by Elias Davidsson

3. “Who Killed Karkare? The Real Face of Terrorism in India” by S.M. Mushrif

4. “Brahminists Bombed, Muslims Hanged” by S.M. Mushrif

About the Author:

Amjad Zafar Ali is a historian from Kasur, Pakistan, and the author of multiple books on history and culture. His work often explores the intersections of truth, memory, and state narratives. With deep roots in historical research and heritage preservation, Amjad remains committed to telling the untold stories of the subcontinent.