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

The then Director of the Intelligence Bureau, who too was tasked to give his opinion on the tape, was firmly of the same view, as any sane person would be. Mercifully, the matter was given the burial it deserved.

The two attempts made at maligning me by two senior colleagues, one out of sheer envy and the other to settle old scores, are perhaps the saddest incidents of my life as a police officer. While, on the one hand, working in tandem with officers of sister police agencies and getting results on account of the resultant synergy can be a most satisfying experience, the petty mindsets of a handful of malicious and petty-minded colleagues can really put you down. Nonetheless , even though, by God’s grace, I came out of the two vicious attacks on my integrity unscathed, they left deep scars on my psyche.

Meanwhile, investigations into the affairs of Sharma had disclosed how he, a gangster from the back of beyond in Uttar Pradesh, had risen to be the most influential overground member of the underworld. He not only had close nexus with politicians of all hues, he himself was one. He had floated his own political party, contested elections and had aligned himself, from time to time, with the high and mighty of Indian politics.

Hailing from Ugrasen Nagar in Phoolpur District, close to Allahabad, he came to Delhi and made a living selling handkerchief on the footpaths of Sadar Bazar. During mid-eighties he moved to Bombay and came close to Vardaraja Mudaliar, popularly known as Vaardhabhai, who then ruled the underworld, and became his key aide. Through the underworld nexus, he developed huge interest in the real estate business spread across western suburbs of Bombay. His modus operandi was to identify disputed properties and buy the share of one of the claimants,
thereby getting access to the premises. Then, using his underworld connections, the property was got vacated from the other claimants and possession of the entire premises taken.

To be continued....