New Delhi: “An upright, conscientious officer”, “one who leads by example” and is “omniscient with a wealth of field experience”— this is how colleagues describe the 1990-batch Maharashtra cadre IPS officer, Sadanand Vasant Date, who took over the reins of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) Sunday.
From the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack — where he was one of the first to reach Cama Hospital, which was under attack, put a bullet in terrorist Abu Ismail’s torso and rescue people — to the Shakti Mills gangrape, the Telgi scam and the 2007 Kingfisher ticketing scam, Date’s illustrious career is punctuated by his pivotal role in high-stakes situations during his tenure with the Maharashtra Police.
For his role in the 26/11 attacks, Date was awarded the President’s Police Medal for gallantry.
Speaking to ThePrint, Date said, “It is a matter of honour to be part of such a prestigious organisation. I will put in my best.”
A former chief of Maharashtra’s Anti-Terrorism Squad, Date, who is from Pune, has traversed a path marked by adversity to reach this position.
After losing his father at an early age, he worked as a newspaper boy, a receptionist at a nursing home and juggled multiple roles, while focusing on his studies and finally cracking the Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) exam.
In his service of 34 years, Date has served across key departments, including the Crime Branch, the Anti-Terrorism Squad, the Central Reserve Police Force, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), and now the NIA. He was also the first commissioner of the newly formed Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar (MBVV) police commissionerate.
According to a senior Mumbai Police officer, Date is an “all-rounder”.
“He is the 26/11 hero. He not only led a team to Ajmal Kasab and his mentor Ismail Khan at Cama Hospital and held them at the terrace of the building, but also rescued people. He sustained wounds in a grenade attack and was immobile for days, but that never stopped him. He still has shrapnel in his right eye. He has worked in several departments across sectors and will definitely be an asset to the NIA,” the officer told ThePrint.
Recalling the 26/11 operation, the officer added that Date was leading from the front as terrorists were taking a person as a shield to escape. but Date stopped them by firing. Moreover, his presence of mind forced Kasab and Ismail to stay on the terrace for a long time, he added.
“Date along with his team blocked the only exit of the terrace, not giving the terrorists a chance to escape. This presence of mind led the police to the two terrorists who were caught alive,” the officer recounted.
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‘Terror, white-collar crime expert’
While Date was with the CBI, he also won a fellowship (the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship) in 2005-2006 and went to the University of Minnesota, where he studied the theoretical and practical aspects of controlling white-collar and organised crime.
Date also holds a doctorate on comparative monitoring systems of investigation in police stations, the Economic Offences Wing, the Anti-Corruption Branch and the Central Bureau of Investigation.
His research shed light on why different agencies work on similar cases but still get different conviction rates.
For instance, why is it that that Mumbai Police Crime Branch, CBI and anti-corruption bureau work on similar cases but all have different conviction rates? While one unit may have a 70 percent conviction rate, the other may not even have 20 with the same resources.
“He has a brilliant mind. From terror to financial fraud, he is an expert in all the relevant fields. He is also a very dedicated officer who prioritises his work over everything else,” a second Mumbai Police officer said.
“If there is an operation or an investigation that is on, he would give it all. What is even more commendable is that he doesn’t bow down to pressure and take decisions. He has always ensured that every case is probed based on its merit,” the officer told ThePrint.
‘With new ideas’
Recalling Date’s role in the Kingfisher ticketing fraud case of 2007 and the Telgi scam, a third Mumbai Police officer said that he always has an “out of the box approach to look at cases, which has always proven to be successful.”
Kingfisher Airlines had lodged a complaint with the EOW on December 21 regarding online ticketing being fraudulently carried out on a massive scale.The loss it had reported was Rs 13.5 crore in 18 months between June 2005 and November 2006.
The Telgi scam involved a sophisticated counterfeit stamp paper racket that spread across states in India and was valued at over Rs 30,000-crore, with Abdul Karim Telgi as its mastermind.
“The Kingfisher ticketing fraud case was one of the early online frauds when e-tickets had just begun. Date and his team worked extremely hard to detect that case and bring the culprits to book. Similarly, with the Telgi case, Date and his teams tracked the transactions, and collected impeccable evidence to ensure a conviction,” an officer told ThePrint.
The officer also spoke about how in a 2012 case of rape of a Spanish visitor in Mumbai’s Bandra, Date and his team had traced the accused with the help of a shoeprint.
However, when the rape survivor refused to come to India and depose before the court, Date and his team worked with the family and recorded her statement through audio and video, which helped secure a conviction.
“Recording a statement with audio and video was not very common those days. It was a novel idea that was executed and helped secure a conviction. Date always thinks out of the box, which is a big plus,” the officer highlighted.
According to the officer, Date has had an exciting career with many high-profile cases. “We are certain that he will be great in his new assignment. He is extremely accessible to his own team, always boosting their morale and has always led by example, which makes him a good leader,” the officer told ThePrint.
(Edited by Richa Mishra)