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Hemant Karkare Age, Death, Wife, Family, Biography & More

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Hometown: Nagpur
Age: 54 Years
Death Date: 27/11/2008

Hemant Karkare

Bio/Wiki
Full nameHemant Kamlakar Karkare [1]Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy
Profession The Anti-Terrorist Chief - Police Officer
Known asOne of the martyrs of 26/11 Mumbai Attack
Civil Services
ServiceIndian Police Service (IPS)
Batch1982 (35RR)
CadreMaharashtra [2]India Today
Major Designation(s)Hemant Karkare joined the IPS in 1982, and he held many key posts in his 25 years long career. [3]Mint

• Assistant Superintendent of Police in Bhusawal, a city in Northern Maharashtra, in 1984
• Superintendent of Police in the Naxal-hit Chandrapur district of Maharashtra in 1991 [4]The Indian Express
• Joint Commissioner of Police (Administration), Mumbai
• Chief of Mumbai's Anti-Terror Squad (ATS)

Note: He also worked with Economic Offence Wing (EOW), Maharashtra [5]Mint and Anti-Corruption Bureau, Maharashtra. [6]Mint
Awards, Honours
26 January 2009: Posthumously given India's highest peacetime gallantry decoration - Ashoka Chakra
December 1983: The Best Cadet Trophy at the National Police Academy, Hyderabad [7]Rediff
• Received the President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service from then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee [8]Rediff
Personal Life
Date of Birth12 December 1954 (Sunday)
BirthplaceSagar, Madhya Pradesh [9]DNA
Date of Death27 November 2008
Place of DeathDied on the way to hospital after being shot by the terrorists in the 26/11 attacks
Age (at the time of death) 54 Years
Death CauseGunned down by the terrorists in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks [10]News 18
Zodiac signSagittarius
Nationality Indian
HometownNagpur, Maharashtra
School• Chittranjan Das Municipal Primary School, Maharashtra
• New English High School, Nagpur
College/UniversityVisvesvaraya National Institute of Technology, Nagpur [11]Hindustan Times
Educational QualificationBachelor of Engineering degree in Mechanical Engineering from Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (1975) [12]Hindustan Times
ReligionHinduism [13]Rediff
Relationships & More
Marital Status (at the time of death)Married
Family
Wife/SpouseKavita Karkare (deceased)
Kavita Karkare and Hemant Karkare at their wedding ceremony
An image from the wedding of Hemant Karkare and Kavita
ChildrenSon- 1
• Akash Karkare
Akash Karkare
Daughter- 2
• Jui Karkare Navare
Jui Karkare Navare
• Sayali Karkare
ParentsFather- Kamlakar Karkare (worked as a guard in the Central Railways) [14]DNA
Mother- Kumudini Karkare (worked as a teacher at D Dinanath School in Nagpur) [15]DNA
SiblingsBrother- 2 (younger) [16]Rediff
• Shirish Karkare (Worked as a manager at the National Insurance Company) [17]The Times of India
• Pravin Karkare
From left - Pravin Karkare, Shirish Karkare, and Hemant Karkare
Sister- None

Hemant Karkare

Some Lesser Known Facts About Hemant Karkare

  • Hemant Karkare was the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) Chief of Maharashtra who was killed in the 26/11 Mumbai attacks in 2008.
  • According to his daughter Jui Karkare Navare, Hemant, as a child, was once so lost in reading books in a library that he got locked in the library; it was Ramkrishna Math Library in Nagpur. [18]Rediff
  • In an interview, Jui Karkare Navare revealed that her father, Hemant Karkare, loved wood carving. [19]Rediff
  • Reportedly, Hemant worked at National Productivity Council and Hindustan Lever Limited (now Hindustan Unilever Limited) after completing his graduation in Mechanical Engineering, and later, he decided to appear for the civil services examination. [20]DNA
  • According to sources, after joining the Indian Police Service in 1982, Hemant Karkare served in the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) for nine years [21]India Today during which he was assigned Indian missions in various countries including Vienna and Austria, where he worked as a counsellor for seven years. [22]The Indian Express
  • In an interview, former Research and Analysis Wing chief AS Dulat revealed that it was Hemant Karkare who, serving as the intelligence commissioner in Mumbai, found a major link that helped track down the hijackers of the Indian Airlines flight IC 814. [23]Scroll.in AS Dulat said,

    The breakthrough came from Mumbai when one of our officers, working continuously without a break for days, found a major link. He found a man who had worked with the hijackers to fund and execute the plot and that suddenly opened up an intelligence treasure trove for us. The man was our intelligence commissioner in Mumbai, Hemant Karkare.” [24]Scroll.in

  • Reportedly, while working with the United Nations on many assignments, Hemant Karkare did a separate six-year-stint at the cabinet secretariat in the Prime Minister’s Office. [25]Mint
  • Hemant Karkare is remembered for his excellency in solving various cases including the blast cases in Thane, Vashi, and Panvel.
  • According to Hemant’s daughter Jui Karkare Navare, her father got an urgent call around 09:45 pm, while he was having dinner with his family, about the firing at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus in South Mumbai. [26]Rediff According to the sources, when Karkare reached the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, he found platform number 01 empty. Reportedly, the targets of the 26/11 attacks included Chabad House, Rang Bhavan Lane near Cama Hospital, Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, Cafe Leopold, etc. [27]India Today

    An Indian paramilitary soldier outside the Taj Hotel in Mumbai on 26-11-2008

    An Indian paramilitary soldier outside the Taj Hotel in Mumbai on 26-11-2008

  • After learning about the situation near the Cama & Albless Hospital, Hemant, along with two officers – Additional Commissioner of Mumbai police Ashok Kamte and encounter specialist inspector Vijay Salaskar – and a constable, headed towards the location. Reportedly, Hemant – wearing a bulletproof jacket that could only resist 9 mm bullets and a service pistol – [28]Rediff  asked for reinforcements till around forty minutes but didn’t get them. [29]NDTV As per some reports, Karkare, Ashok Kamte, and Vijay Salaskar were gunned down by one of the terrorists near the Cama & Albless Hospital; however, some sources claim that Karkare and others were shot dead by Ajmal Kasab with his AK-47.

    Flowers and wreths at the spot where Hemant Karkare, along with others, was shot

    Flowers and wreaths at the spot where Hemant Karkare, along with others, was shot

  • Reportedly, Hemant’s last words were at 11:28 pm on 26 November 2008, instructing to control the situation near Cama Hospital and requesting to send the army to the place for backup. Hemant’s last words were,

    ATS and QRT teams are here at the rear gate of the hospital, and so is the crime branch team. Therefore, we need a team from the front side. We need to ENCIRCLE the Cama and surround it.” [30]The Indian Express

  • Reportedly, Sadhvi Pragya – one of the key accused of the Malegaon blasts case – delivered a controversial statement on Karkare’s death, calling it a result of his bad deeds (karma). While talking about Karkare’s death in an interview, Sadhvi Pragya said,

    Hemant Karkare falsely implicated me [in Malegaon blasts] and treated me very badly. I told him your entire dynasty will be erased. He died of his karma.” [31]India Today

  • In memory of her father, Hemant Karkare, Jui Karkare Navare wrote a memoir titled ‘Hemant Karkare – A Daughter’s Memoir’ (2019). [32]Rediff

    Jui Navare Karkare holding the 'Hemant Karkare – A Daughter’s Memoir'

    Jui Navare Karkare holding the ‘Hemant Karkare – A Daughter’s Memoir’