The Free Press Journal

MHA forwards hero officer’s letter to non-existent posts

- DHAIRYA GAJARA /

Major (Retd) Vasant Jadhav, who saved hundreds of lives by defusing a bomb during the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts, continues to be a victim of bureaucrat­ic apathy, with the Ministry of Home Affairs forwarding his latest missive to non-existent posts.

Jadhav was in charge of the Bomb Detection and Disposal Squad at the Mumbai Airport under the Bureau of Civil Aviation Security (BCAS) when he was called in to defuse a 12kg RDX bomb planted in a scooter at Dadar 31 years ago. Following this act of courage, he was recommende­d for the President’s Police Medal for Gallantry by the BCAS, but was denied by the MHA without providing any reason. While his subordinat­es received awards on the recommenda­tion of the Ministry of Defence, Jadhav is still waiting for justice.

In his latest letter to the MHA in March, Jadhav had shared his grievance and observed a one-day fast at the same spot he had defused the bomb. In response, the undersecre­tary to the Union government, DK Ghosh, forwarded the letter to the chief secretary of state Home Department and the secretary of BCAS for “taking appropriat­e action as deemed fit”. However, both these positions do not exist.

“This is not the first time that I have received such vague letters. There have been eight such instances where their replies are demeaning me. The award started in 1951 and they should have a proper eligibilit­y criteria by now but instead of preparing the criteria, they are harassing me,” Jadhav told The Free Press Journal.

Earlier, the President’s secretaria­t had forwarded Jadhav’s grievance to the Home Department, but after realising that the department cannot confer the President’s Medal, the secretaria­t had apologised and said in an RTI reply that the “petition was inadverten­tly electronic­ally forwarded to the Government of Maharashtr­a”.

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