'1,432 bullet proof vets for cops failed test to withstand SLR

The Maharashtra government today conceded in the Legislative Council that 1,432 bullet proof jackets out of the 4,614 such vests procured by Mumbai Police in the wake of the 26/11 attacks have failed to withstand bullets of certain guns and would be replaced.

Replying to a written question by Congress MLC Anant Gadgil, Minister of State for Home Ranjit Patil said the 1,432 jackets would be replaced in the next three months.

Gadgil stated that out of the 5,000 bullet-proof vests required for the Mumbai Police post the terror strikes, a total of 4,614 jackets were made available.

However, 1,432 bullet-proof jackets out of the 4,614 failed the durability test.

"A bullet proof jacket should withstand bullets of all kinds of guns. However the 1,432 jackets failed to withstand bullets fired from SLR/MP5/INSA 505 guns," stated Gadgil.

"Are terrorists going to inform us about the guns they would be carrying during the attacks?" Gadgil asked.

Additional DGP (Procurement and Coordination) V V Laxminarayana told PTI in February that Maharashtra Police had returned a total of 1,430 bullet-proof jackets out of the 4,600 received by them to their Kanpur-based manufacturer as they failed the AK-47 bullet test during trials.

"We have sent back more than 1400 bulletproof jackets to their manufacturer as they did not pass our the test with AK-47 bullets," he had said.

The jackets returned were from three different batches.

A major controversy had erupted on the quality of the bulletproof jackets after the death of ATS chief Hemant Karkare in the 2008 terror attacks. Karkare was seen putting on a bulletproof vest in the last visuals, before the jeep he was travelling in was attacked in south Mumbai.

The row was one of the main reasons that no company was willing to supply the jackets in multiple tenders floated by Maharashtra Police since the 2008 attacks.