State Chief Information Commissioner Ratnakar Gaikwad has asked the state government to set up a judicial probe to investigate alleged tampering of crucial call log records of the Mumbai police control room pertaining to the 26/11 terror attack. Gaikwad was hearing a complaint filed under Section 18 of the Right to Information Act (RTI), 2005 by Vinita Kamte, widow of slain IPS officer Ashoke Kamte that call log records were tampered with. Senior police officers including Ashok Kamte, Hemant Karkare and Vijay Salaskar were killed in the 2008 Mumbai terror attack. Kamte’s widow had procured call records from the Mumbai police control room to ascertain the course of events. She received two sets of call log records, which had shown discrepancies. Kamte procured call log records attached with chargesheets filed in the case against Ajmal Kasab and found discrepancies in time and data between the three. Kamte pointed out serious discrepancies in call log records of six minutes, which her complaint said was suspicious. Following her complaint, Gaikwad asked the DCP (Wireless) of Mumbai police to inquire. The inquiry rejected tampering allegations by Kamte, which prompted her to approach Gaikwad’s bench once again. In her complaint, Kamte objected to the manner in which the inquiry was conducted. The complaint pointed out that while the inquiry officer has the powers to call for evidence on affidavit and ask for documents, the investigating officer has not questioned discrepancies in call log records. During the hearing, police pointed out that due to manufacturing constraints of hard disks, memory at times gets deleted. In response, Gaikwad asked for a manufacturer’s report which police failed to produce. Agreeing with Kamte’s contention, Gaikwad, in his order on July 7 directed the state government to constitute a judicial probe under the Commission of Inquiry Act, 1952. The order said the probe should be headed by a sitting or a retired judge.
