Rakesh Maria responds for the first time to allegations by Vinita Kamte that, as the head of the control room that night, he did not send proper reinforcements to her late husband Ashok Kamte.
Sensitivity to women, children and senior citizens, zero tolerance for custodial deaths, better terror-preparedness and an increase in conviction rates are some of the things citizens can expect from the Mumbai police under his leadership, newly-appointed Rakesh Maria said on Tuesday in an interview to this newspaper.
In his first exhaustive interview after taking charge, Bandra boy Maria also spoke for the first time about the controversy surrounding his role at the helm of the control room during the 26/11 terror attacks.
"In hindsight it is very easy to say something could have been done better," said Maria. "The control room received 1,365 terror-related calls in four hours. We were dependant on wireless communication by seniors. Suffice to say all this has come up before the Ram Pradhan Committee and it appreciated the work done by the control room. And my conscience is very, very clear. I did the job to the best of my ability and there was nothing mala fide in that. One did try to do the best one could do."
As a citizen born and brought up in Bandra, how have you seen the city change?
This is the country's economic capital and the population has exploded, but the police strength is more or less the same. Over the years, the police's job has become increasingly complex. Today, you are supposed to look into things from protecting mangroves to monitoring shops and establishments.
At one point, crime detection, which was once our forte, took a backseat and that's where we were hit. We need to go back to the basics and that is what I have told my officers. We need to focus on crime prevention and detection and once we do that, automatically the police's image will improve. The public's faith in police will increase, and they will come closer to the police.
Also, in those days, the city was known for its chivalry. Any time of the day or night a lady could go anywhere. Today the police numbers do not match the influx of population. The police cannot be omnipresent. Today, the main issue is not only security of the city vis-a-vis terrorism and organised crime but also the security of its women, children and senior citizens.
Despite having better resources than most other forces, why does Mumbai police still not match the expectation level of citizens?
I have travelled all over the world and interacted with police forces practically everywhere. Given the resources and the constraints under which we work, I think Mumbai police is as good, if not better, than most forces in the world. Most police forces work eight hours. Here they work 12 hours and then travel over two hours back to their homes in distant suburbs. That is 16 hours every day.
Coming back to the mismatch you mentioned, I have been telling my officers and men that one wrong move or one bad incident washes out all the good work. That is what lingers in the memory of the public forever. We must try to bring down those bad incidents or bad behaviour, to bare minimum or zero so that the good work stands out.
Nonetheless, Maharashtra and Mumbai have among the poorest conviction rates in the country...
We register close to 32,000 complaints every year. No police force registers that much crime. There is tremendous burden on officers. One officer deals with 20 to 30 cases a year. He or she thus cannot do justice to all the cases. Previous commissioners have also tried, and we are also trying to ingrain upon officers that mere detection is not the end of the job. You have to ensure the prosecution succeeds and your job is not over till you get a conviction.
The recent months have seen a bunch of custodial deaths. How do you plan to tackle it?
There will be zero tolerance for custodial deaths, officers and men have clearly been told. Stringent punishment will be given if it is found that someone died in custody because of a policeman's actions.
Do you think the underworld still poses a challenge to this city?
Nobody can say the underworld or organised crime is defeated or is over. The police can only keep these activities under control. The day you take you take your foot off the pedal, these guys can regroup, rejuvenate and strike again. We have asked the crime branch to prepare a list of top ten criminals and the police stations have been asked to deal with the top ten local criminals. One sure way of destroying the organised crime syndicate is to choke their economic pipeline. That is where we need to strike and that is what we will do.
There have been reports, mostly from the Union home ministry, that Dawood Ibrahim, et al may return. Your take?
If they come back, they will face the law. I don't think they will come. I am a bit sceptical. They have become puppets in the hands of the ISI.
Have you ever seen or met any of them?
In 1986, when I was the zonal DCP, I used to visit the police stations. There have been occasions when I have seen Dawood Ibrahim, Arun Gawli, Amar Naik being brought to the stations. These people held sway in small areas back then.
You were in the thick of things during the 26/11 attacks and subsequently headed the ATS. What lessons have we learnt from these incidents?
During 26/11, our major problem was mental preparedness, weaponry, and training. These were issues which affected our response that night. Post-26/11, we raised Force One and I can proudly say it is better than any counter-terrorism squad in the world. I have also told my successor in the ATS that he is free to take whoever he needs from Mumbai police. The ATS needs the best men and officers. Ultimately, if the ATS is strengthened, Mumbai police will naturally be strengthened. There is no difference between Mumbai Police, ATS and crime branch. In fact, there is better coordination now.
There were allegations from Vinita Kamte that you did not guide her husband, Ashok Kamte properly from the control room during 26/11, resulting in him and other officers getting killed...
In hindsight it is very easy to say something could have been done better. One should remember what the situation was at that time. The control room received in a span of four hours 1365 terror-related calls. The control room's job is to depute manpower. Utilisation of manpower is the job of the senior officers at the spot. We do not have CCTVs in city for the control room to know what is happening at a particular spot. We were dependant on wireless communication by seniors.
Suffice to say all this has come up before the Ram Pradhan Committee and it appreciated the work done by the control room.
See, I don't blame anybody. The loss of a head of a family is bound to be traumatic, is bound to lead to feelings like 'why us'. I believe it is an occupational hazard.
My conscience is very, very clear. I did the job to the best of my ability and there was nothing mala fide in that. One did try to do the best one could do.
Though the atmosphere is much calmer now, there was a time late last year when there was a perception that a terror attack was imminent in the festival season...
During the festival season, there is always an attempt by terrorists to create some problem to provoke a communal outbreak. Fortunately, the Mumbaikar has never been swayed. Since I worked in ATS in this period, I know there were so many instances when terrorists came close to doing something. But the police and central agencies thwarted them. Maharashtra and Mumbai will always be a target.
There was a lot of drama leading up to your appointment, with a section saying the state bypassed seniors. Would you like to comment on this?
I would not like to go into that. I have been given a mandate. Whether I am CP for one day, one month or one year is immaterial. As long as I am on this chair, I have promised I will do my best to ensure the city is safe, crime is under control and the image of Mumbai and Maharashtra police is raised.
Sensitivity to women, children and senior citizens, zero tolerance for custodial deaths, better terror-preparedness and an increase in conviction rates are some of the things citizens can expect from the Mumbai police under his leadership, newly-appointed Rakesh Maria said on Tuesday in an interview to this newspaper.
In his first exhaustive interview after taking charge, Bandra boy Maria also spoke for the first time about the controversy surrounding his role at the helm of the control room during the 26/11 terror attacks.
"In hindsight it is very easy to say something could have been done better," said Maria. "The control room received 1,365 terror-related calls in four hours. We were dependant on wireless communication by seniors. Suffice to say all this has come up before the Ram Pradhan Committee and it appreciated the work done by the control room. And my conscience is very, very clear. I did the job to the best of my ability and there was nothing mala fide in that. One did try to do the best one could do."
As a citizen born and brought up in Bandra, how have you seen the city change?
This is the country's economic capital and the population has exploded, but the police strength is more or less the same. Over the years, the police's job has become increasingly complex. Today, you are supposed to look into things from protecting mangroves to monitoring shops and establishments.
At one point, crime detection, which was once our forte, took a backseat and that's where we were hit. We need to go back to the basics and that is what I have told my officers. We need to focus on crime prevention and detection and once we do that, automatically the police's image will improve. The public's faith in police will increase, and they will come closer to the police.
Also, in those days, the city was known for its chivalry. Any time of the day or night a lady could go anywhere. Today the police numbers do not match the influx of population. The police cannot be omnipresent. Today, the main issue is not only security of the city vis-a-vis terrorism and organised crime but also the security of its women, children and senior citizens.
Despite having better resources than most other forces, why does Mumbai police still not match the expectation level of citizens?
I have travelled all over the world and interacted with police forces practically everywhere. Given the resources and the constraints under which we work, I think Mumbai police is as good, if not better, than most forces in the world. Most police forces work eight hours. Here they work 12 hours and then travel over two hours back to their homes in distant suburbs. That is 16 hours every day.
Coming back to the mismatch you mentioned, I have been telling my officers and men that one wrong move or one bad incident washes out all the good work. That is what lingers in the memory of the public forever. We must try to bring down those bad incidents or bad behaviour, to bare minimum or zero so that the good work stands out.
Nonetheless, Maharashtra and Mumbai have among the poorest conviction rates in the country...
We register close to 32,000 complaints every year. No police force registers that much crime. There is tremendous burden on officers. One officer deals with 20 to 30 cases a year. He or she thus cannot do justice to all the cases. Previous commissioners have also tried, and we are also trying to ingrain upon officers that mere detection is not the end of the job. You have to ensure the prosecution succeeds and your job is not over till you get a conviction.
The recent months have seen a bunch of custodial deaths. How do you plan to tackle it?
There will be zero tolerance for custodial deaths, officers and men have clearly been told. Stringent punishment will be given if it is found that someone died in custody because of a policeman's actions.
Do you think the underworld still poses a challenge to this city?
Nobody can say the underworld or organised crime is defeated or is over. The police can only keep these activities under control. The day you take you take your foot off the pedal, these guys can regroup, rejuvenate and strike again. We have asked the crime branch to prepare a list of top ten criminals and the police stations have been asked to deal with the top ten local criminals. One sure way of destroying the organised crime syndicate is to choke their economic pipeline. That is where we need to strike and that is what we will do.
There have been reports, mostly from the Union home ministry, that Dawood Ibrahim, et al may return. Your take?
If they come back, they will face the law. I don't think they will come. I am a bit sceptical. They have become puppets in the hands of the ISI.
Have you ever seen or met any of them?
In 1986, when I was the zonal DCP, I used to visit the police stations. There have been occasions when I have seen Dawood Ibrahim, Arun Gawli, Amar Naik being brought to the stations. These people held sway in small areas back then.
You were in the thick of things during the 26/11 attacks and subsequently headed the ATS. What lessons have we learnt from these incidents?
During 26/11, our major problem was mental preparedness, weaponry, and training. These were issues which affected our response that night. Post-26/11, we raised Force One and I can proudly say it is better than any counter-terrorism squad in the world. I have also told my successor in the ATS that he is free to take whoever he needs from Mumbai police. The ATS needs the best men and officers. Ultimately, if the ATS is strengthened, Mumbai police will naturally be strengthened. There is no difference between Mumbai Police, ATS and crime branch. In fact, there is better coordination now.
There were allegations from Vinita Kamte that you did not guide her husband, Ashok Kamte properly from the control room during 26/11, resulting in him and other officers getting killed...
In hindsight it is very easy to say something could have been done better. One should remember what the situation was at that time. The control room received in a span of four hours 1365 terror-related calls. The control room's job is to depute manpower. Utilisation of manpower is the job of the senior officers at the spot. We do not have CCTVs in city for the control room to know what is happening at a particular spot. We were dependant on wireless communication by seniors.
Suffice to say all this has come up before the Ram Pradhan Committee and it appreciated the work done by the control room.
See, I don't blame anybody. The loss of a head of a family is bound to be traumatic, is bound to lead to feelings like 'why us'. I believe it is an occupational hazard.
My conscience is very, very clear. I did the job to the best of my ability and there was nothing mala fide in that. One did try to do the best one could do.
Though the atmosphere is much calmer now, there was a time late last year when there was a perception that a terror attack was imminent in the festival season...
During the festival season, there is always an attempt by terrorists to create some problem to provoke a communal outbreak. Fortunately, the Mumbaikar has never been swayed. Since I worked in ATS in this period, I know there were so many instances when terrorists came close to doing something. But the police and central agencies thwarted them. Maharashtra and Mumbai will always be a target.
There was a lot of drama leading up to your appointment, with a section saying the state bypassed seniors. Would you like to comment on this?
I would not like to go into that. I have been given a mandate. Whether I am CP for one day, one month or one year is immaterial. As long as I am on this chair, I have promised I will do my best to ensure the city is safe, crime is under control and the image of Mumbai and Maharashtra police is raised.
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