“Devil Wears ‘Khaadi’ (The Unmasking of Romesh Sharma)” continues…

So there I was, present before the Home Minister, being made to feel like a gangster myself. Fortunately, the Minister heard the entire story patiently and was satisfied that the impression being sought to be created by my jealous colleague was totally motivated and false.

But, there was more to come. With Romesh Sharma’s disclosures several big names from politics, industry and some from the bureaucracy, along with their skeletons, came tumbling out. Several feathers were ruffled and powerful people began to gun for me. Complaints, innuendos and allegations were flung at me recklessly from different quarters. Meanwhile, as a follow-up to Romesh Sharma’s arrest, a top industrial house of the country was to be investigated. I was informed by the Director that I had to keep myself out of these investigations. What followed in a couple of days became a source of great embarrassment for the CBI, perhaps one of the biggest in its history.

The residence and offices of the industrialist’s family were to be raided in Bombay. Quite curiously, and much to the disgrace of the CBI, the Asian Age, a leading newspaper, ran banner headlines on the impending raid scheduled for later the same day. Quite predictably, the entire search operation proved to be futile and hugely embarrassing, drawing adverse media attentionand making a mockery of the CBI. I am sure, my bosses rued their decision and realized somewhere that it was not the smartest step to take in pulling me out of the case. The Director lost face and was soon to be relieved of his charge.

My team put together a comprehensive note on the contacts of Romesh Sharma in high places. This report only confirmed what the NN Vohra Committee, appointed by the Government of
India in 1993 to probe the Criminal-Police-Bureaucrat-Business nexus, had reported.

One of the many revelations in the interrogation of Romesh Sharma was the proximity of the underworld with a major political party in the country, whose prominent members were either operating on behalf of mobsters or had close financial links with them.

To be continued...