who killed those gr8 people.....who will punish them
Cop surfs net for bulletproof jackets
Mumbai limps back to normalcy10 men accounted for but terror boat had things for over 15How Black Cats kept humour intact
Mumbai: After being on non-stop duty for three days and nights, Police Sub-Inspector (PSI) Anup Dange is now planning to do some shopping. His shopping list: a state-of-the art bulletproof jacket and a helmet.
Back in his L T Marg police station office now, the cop is busy surfing the internet to check out prices of different bulletproof vests and helmets.
Dange is frustrated with the state machinery and the facilities provided to the police force to face challenges of such magnitude as the November 26 Mu mbai Terror attacks. “We have jackets that prove useless when we have to face terrorists wielding AK-47s.”
According to him, the three top cops — Hemant Karkare, Ashok Kamte and Vijay Salaskar — might have had more chance of staying alive if it wasn’t for the sub-standard jackets. “The jackets are totally useless,” said Dange. He is now willing to shell out several thousand dollars to buy a jacket that will help in securing his life.
It may take another year before policemen can expect better bullet proof jackets which could have saved officers Hemant Karkare and
Ajay Kamte who died of bullet injuries during operation against militants in Mumbai even while wearing the protective gear. The government has finally agreed to demands of the police for improved quality of bullet proof jackets but there may be problems in delivery. "We need nearly 1,00,000 more such jackets. It will take another one year when we will have bullet proof jacket with improved qualitative requirements. It will be by end of year 2009," said Bureau of Police Research and Development Chief K Koshy. The new jackets are likely to be lighter with more body coverage and highly defensive against any ballistic attack. "The weight of the bullet proof jacket will be less, trauma level will be less and will cover more area of the body," Koshy said adding, "Work has begun towards redrafting the new qualitative requirements." Police normally use two types of jacket--one made of special cloth (Kevlar) that reduces the impact of bullet coming from small weapons like 9 mm pistol. For the automatic weapons, another triple layered jacket is used by the force which gives extra protection from AK series rifles, SLR or self loading rifle, light machine guns. Weighing about 10 kilograms, it is made of three special plates of bullet proof steel, ceramic plates and polyethylene plates. "The present jacket is not acceptable to police who were reluctant to wear them even during Mumbai and Jamia Nagar encounters," a senior police official said adding, "It is very uncomfortable and it does not guarantee safety from any ballistic attack."
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment