Vijay Salaskar

2021-12-31T10:23:08Z

223.229.197.164: SOME CORRECTION

{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2014}}
{{Infobox police officer
|honorific_prefix = [[List of police ranks in India|Police Inspector]]
|name = Vijay Salaskar
|honorific_suffix=[[Ashok Chakra Award|AC]]
|image = VijaySalaskar.jpg
|caption = 
|birth_date = 24 February 1957
|birth_place = [[India]]
|death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2008|11|26|1957|2|24}}
|badgenumber = 
|death_place = [[Mumbai]], [[Maharashtra]], [[India]]
|nickname = Encounter Specialist
|department = Anti-Extortion Cell, Mumbai
|service = [[Mumbai Police|Maharashtra Police Service]]
|serviceyears = 1983–2008
| rank = [[File:Police Inspector insignia.png|40px]] [[List of police ranks in India|Police Inspector]]
| awards = [[File:Ashoka Chakra ribbon.svg|34px]] [[Ashoka Chakra Award|Ashoka Chakra]]
|relations = Hemlata Salaskar (mother), Smita Salaskar (wife)
|laterwork = 
}}

'''Vijay Salaskar''', [[Ashoka Chakra (military decoration)|AC]] (24 February 1957 – 26 November 2008) was an Indian police inspector and [[encounter killings|encounter specialist]] with the [[Mumbai police]].<ref>{{cite news|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Pune/They_were_our_heroes/articleshow/3766874.cms|title=They were our heroes|last=Rizwanullah|first=Syed|author2=Sanjay Chavan |date=28 November 2008|work=The Times of India|access-date=30 November 2008}}</ref> He was widely credited with killing 75–80 criminals in encounters – most of these were members of the [[Arun Gawli]] gang.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.tehelka.com/story_main26.asp?filename=Ne021007Ab_tak.asp |title=Archived copy |access-date=19 October 2013 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120912174517/http://www.tehelka.com/story_main26.asp?filename=Ne021007Ab_tak.asp |archive-date=12 September 2012 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all }}</ref> Salaskar was martyred while fighting terrorists in the [[November 2008 Mumbai attacks]].<ref>
{{cite news
|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Three_top_cops_die_on_duty/articleshow/3762023.cms
|title=Three top cops die on duty-Mumbai-Cities-The Times of India
|work=The Times of India
|access-date=27 November 2008
|date=27 November 2008
}}
</ref><ref>
{{cite news|url=http://www.hindu.com/2008/11/28/stories/2008112862051900.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081201100035/http://www.hindu.com/2008/11/28/stories/2008112862051900.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=1 December 2008|title=Mumbai policemen who led from the front |last=Katakam|first=Anupama|date=28 November 2008|access-date=1 December 2008|work=[[The Hindu]]|location=Chennai, India}}</ref>
Captured terrorist [[Ajmal Amir Kasab]] claimed responsibility for the killing.<ref>
{{cite news|url=http://thepost.com.pk/IntNewsT.aspx?dtlid=194658&catid=1|title=Gunmen wanted to repeat 9/11 in Mumbai|date=1 December 2008|work=The Post – Pakistan|access-date=1 December 2008}}</ref>
Before his death Salaskar was head of the Anti-Extortion Cell, Mumbai.<ref name="Times of India">{{cite news|title=Rajan Gangster dead|work=The Times of India|date=31 October 2007|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Mumbai/Rajan_gangster_shot_dead/articleshow/2503867.cms}} Retrieved 27 November 2008</ref> His patriotism and bravery was honoured with the [[Ashoka Chakra Award|Ashoka Chakra]] on 26 January 2009.<ref name="ashoka">{{cite news|url=http://ibnlive.in.com/news/11-security-personnel-to-get-ashok-chakra/83597-3.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090203074058/http://ibnlive.in.com/news/11-security-personnel-to-get-ashok-chakra/83597-3.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=3 February 2009|title=11 security personnel to get Ashok Chakra|access-date=25 January 2009}}</ref>

==Early life and his career==

He joined [[Mumbai police|Bombay Police]] (now Mumbai Police) as a sub inspector in 1983. ''India Today'' reports Salaskar's first lethal encounter occurred during his first year of appointment, when he shot dead Raja Shahabuddin, known to police on several counts.<ref name=IndiaToday>
{{cite news|url=http://indiatoday.digitaltoday.in/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=21179&issueid=81|title=Vijay Salaskar: Life and death by the gun|date=28 November 2008|work=India Today|access-date=30 November 2008}}</ref>
Salaskar, who was reportedly sidelined for the last two years for unearthing the gutka-underworld nexus,<ref>{{cite web | title = Mumbai Terror attack encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar surrender AK-47 assault rifle |publisher= Mid-day.com | url =http://www.mid-day.com/news/2008/dec/291208-Mumbai-Terror-attack-encounter-specialist-Vijay-Salaskar-surrender-AK-47-assault-rifle.htm| access-date = 25 October 2010}}</ref> was recently attached to the crime branch, where he headed the anti-extortion cell. An officer of the 1983 batch, Salaskar in his 24 years of service had eliminated many criminals. According to sources, the police officer had once even gone hunting for former don [[Arun Gawli]]. But Gawli fled from the scene, forcing Salaskar to return empty-handed. However, Salaskar got even by killing his two trusted men, [[Sada Pawle]] and [[Vijay Tandel]], in 1997, triggering allegations that the encounters were fake.<ref>{{cite web | title = I'm shaking with fear, says Arun Gawli |work = The Indian Express | url = http://www.expressindia.com/news/fullstory.php?newsid=30802| access-date = 25 October 2010}}</ref>

This is what Salaskar said in 2004 about Gawli. "Gawli may have become an MLA. But for me, he continues to remain a former Mumbai don and I have to keep tabs on his activities. If I get any information of his group's involvement in a crime or learn about any shady activity going on at [[Dagdi Chawl]], I will not hesitate to raid his [[Byculla]] residence. If I have to arrest him, I will not refrain from doing so. Now that Gawli is an MLA, arresting him will involve certain procedures. I will not bow to any political pressure. I will only take orders from the police commissioner, who is my supreme commander. It was embarrassing that khaki-clad policemen would be deployed to protect Gawli. In the past, we refused him police protection on several occasions. At that time, I had gunned down several of his top henchmen and so he was scared of me. But if Gawli is really reformed, he should not be afraid of me or any other policeman. We do not target innocent persons."<ref>{{cite news | title = Arun Gawli shoots down encounter fears |work = The Times of India | url = http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Arun-Gawli-shoots-down-encounter-fears/articleshow/890559.cms| access-date = 25 October 2010 | date=19 October 2004}}</ref>

==Death==

[[File:Smt. Smita Vijay Salaskar receiving Ashoka Chakra awarded to her husband Shri Vijay Salaskar (Posthumous) from the President, Smt. Pratibha Devisingh Patil, during the 60th Republic Day Parade-2009, in New Delhi.jpg|right|thumb|Salaskar's wife receives the [[Ashoka Chakra (military decoration)|Ashoka Chakra]] from president [[Pratibha Patil]] on 26 January 2009.]]

Vijay Salaskar was [[killed in action]] by terrorists during the [[Mumbai attacks]], on 26 November 2008.

''India Express'' quotes statements by Constable [[Arun Jadhav]], who was with the officers Vijay Salaskar, [[Ashok Kamte]] and [[Hemant Karkare]] when they died.<ref name=IndiaExpress29-11>
"[http://www.indianexpress.com/news/witness-account-of-karkare-kamte-and-salaskars-death/392181/ Witness account of Karkare, Kamte and Salaskar's death]", ''India Express'', 29 November 2008.</ref>
The three officers and four constables had received information that [[Sadanand Date]] had been wounded while resisting hostile terrorist action at the [[Cama Hospital|Cama and Albless Hospital]] for women and children.
Currently located at [[Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus]] (CST), a ten-minute drive from the hospital,<ref name=IndiaExpress29-11 /> they took a [[Toyota Qualis]] and proceeded in that direction. Salaskar was driving, [[Ashok Kamte]] in the passenger seat, [[Hemant Karkare]] in the second row, and the four Constables, including Jadhav, were in the back row of seating. According to Jadhav, five minutes later two terrorists stepped out from behind a tree and opened fire with [[AK-47]] automatic rifles. The six policemen, other than Jadhav, were all killed quickly in the gunfire. The wounded Jadhav had no opportunity to render assistance. The two terrorists approached the vehicle, dumped the bodies of the three officers on the road and, leaving the constables for dead, proceeded to Metro Junction. Upon arrival, they aimed three bursts of automatic fire at police and journalist vehicles drawn up at that location, then drove off towards the government offices ([[Vidhan Sabha|Vidhan Bhawan]]) in South Mumbai. Here again they fired several times. While attempting to leave the area, one of the tyres of the vehicle burst, so the terrorists departed to obtain another. At this point, Jadhav was able to contact headquarters. The bodies of the dead were promptly recovered and taken to [[St George Hospital, Mumbai|St George Hospital]].

==See also==
{{Contains special characters|Indic}}
* [[Sandeep Unnikrishnan]]
* [[Havaldar Gajendra Singh]]
* [[Hemant Karkare]]
* [[Ashok Kamte]]
* [[Tukaram Omble]]
* [[Sadanand Date]]

==References==
{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

==External links==

* [http://www.rediff.com/news/1999/mar/05nandy.htm An interview with Vijay Salaskar]
* [http://www.indianexpress.com/news/witness-account-of-karkare-kamte-and-salaskars-death/392181/ Witness account of Salaskar's death]
* [http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/center/humphrey/2005hfellows.html Humphrey Fellows] – bios including Sadanand Date from the official [[University of Minnesota]] website
*{{IMDb name}}

{{Ashoka Chakra award recipients}}
{{Organised crime in India}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salaskar, Vijay}}
[[Category:2008 deaths]]
[[Category:Police officers from Mumbai]]
[[Category:Deaths by firearm in India]]
[[Category:People associated with the 2008 Mumbai attacks]]
[[Category:Victims of the 2008 Mumbai attacks]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Ashoka Chakra (military decoration)]]
[[Category:Indian police officers killed in the line of duty]]
[[Category:Marathi people]]
[[Category:1957 births]]
[[Category:Ashoka Chakra]]

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Vijay Salaskar