IPS Officer Arup Patnaik is likely to be remembered as the man who controlled the riot caused by a mob of over 50,000 people within 30 minutes without over reacting.
A 1979 Batch IPS Officer, Arup Patnaik took charge of Mumbai in the most crucial phase in the aftermath of the Mumbai attack when the underworld and the ISI had joined hands to launch attacks on the commercial capital of India.
Bollywood Movie “Aan” was made on his life in which Akshya Kumar played the lead role.
He was instrumental in controlling the 1993 Mumbai blasts and subsequent operations which lasted for several months.
In the words of Patnaik, “I was the Bandra DCP when 1992 took place. I almost remained sleepless and did not go home for three months. Entire night we had to roam the streets with long-lathis in curfew bound areas. I have seen people throwing human beings into burning fire. Hundreds were affected”.
Then the Mumbai blast that took place on March 13, 1993. Again the haul of 1,500 kilogram of RDX. It was Yakub Menon who was an informer of the Mumbai Crime B ranch. He called me up and said that he knew me. I wanted to test him and it was he provided me the information about the RDX. When I went and searched the place initially it appeared like soap cakes. But when I gave a real kick with my foot, I was dumbstruck. It was a rich haul.