When the nation was under attack on 26/11/2008, a few brave men were in the forefront, trying to fend off the the most horrific terrorist irruption in India in the recent history. Ashok Kamte was one of those few good men who martyred for the country that day. He was 42 years old, survived by his wife Vinita and sons, Arjun and Rahul. On 26th January, 2009, Kamte was honored with the Ashoka Chakra. Today, on his birthday, we bring to you a peek into his life, the story of his heroism and some facts that were never really was brought much into attention. Born into a family of cops: Kamte, born on February 23, 1965, belonged to a family with a long line of police officers. With Khakee as a shade of his blood, Kamte was almost pre-destined to serve the nation as a police officer. An accomplished athlete, Kamte had even represented India at the junior power-lifting championship in Peru, 1978.

A cop of principles

Kamte made it to the headlines in 2007 when he arrested Ravikant Patil in Solapur. He was three time Member of the Legislative Assembly and his brother was a Shiva Sena leader but that didn’t let Kamte back down. “Law is equal for all and nobody has the right to violate it”, Kamte would say.

A cop well known

During the frequent communal violence of Mumbai, areas under the supervision of Kamte mostly remained free or trouble. Often compared to Bollywood heroes, Kamte was well known, popular and respected. More than 3000 people came to pay their respects on the day Kamte was cremated.