Author: Express News Service
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: March 12, 2009
Introduction: Frustrated after being made
to release Medha Patkar, had sought transfer to ITBP
Seven years ago, when Ashok Kamte was the
Deputy Commissioner of Police for Zone I, the area that was targeted in the
November 26 terror attack, he had apparently decided, in a fit of frustration,
to apply for a deputation to the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) - the same
paramilitary border force that has now· been approached by the Mumbai
Police to guard his killer, Ajmal Kasab, in jail. But his colleagues, it is
learnt, dissuaded him from taking what they thought was a "rather harsh
decision".
A senior IPS officer said Kamte had made the
decision soon after he had arrested social activist. Medha Patkar, national
convener of the National Alliance of People's Movements. Patkar and 300 supporters
were trying to march towards the Vidhan Bhavan in March 2001, during Kamte's
tenure as zonal Deputy Commissioner.
A close friend of Kamte recalls that Kamte
had to arrest the activist but was not getting any orders from his superiors.
"The situation got tense in the region.
Eventually, after making many calls to his
superiors and also to the Mantralaya and not getting a response, he went ahead
with the arrest. Eventually when he called it a day, he started getting calls
from his superiors to release the social activist," the IPS official
says, addil1g, "He got tired of the system. That incident left a bad
impression on him and he immediately started looking for options for a break
and also a place where he could put his policing abilities without any undue
pressure.
Kamte's wife, Vinita, did not wish to dwell
on the incidents. "All I knew was that the wanted to prove himself and
put his abilities to use," she said.
Many officials from the Maharashtra cadre
aply to the BSF and central postings like the CBI, the RAW and the Intelligence
Bureau, but hardly any ever apply to the ITBP. Among the border forces, the
ITBP is known to be toughest because it involves extreme climate conditions;
also, the porous border it has to guard in one of the most difficult geographical
terrains.
