Karkare’s last wish

Transfer me out of ATSHe met RR Patil barely an hour before his deathMUMBAI: Barely an hour before he was felled by terrorists, Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) chief Hemant Karkare had pleaded with state home minister RR Patil to move him to some other department. At one point during the meeting, he went to the extent of saying he wanted to quit the service.
Karkare gave vent to his emotions at a meeting the ATS team had with Patil, which ended around 9 pm that fateful night on Wednesday. Karkare told the minister he was fed up of working in the squad after the political pressure the team faced in the Malegaon blast investigation.
“He was not worried about the work pressure, but the political pressure and nasty allegations had upset him. Patil assured him that things would be set right in the next few days,” said an official closely related to transfers of officials.
The meeting was held at Patil’s official bungalow Chitrakut, and Karkare was on his way back home when he got information about the attack outside CST.
This was not the first time Karkare expressed his anguish. A few weeks earlier too he had sought a transfer. Patil and officials in the home department had convinced him to stay on, saying his experience in the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW) and the way he was leading the investigations were invaluable.