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

Quite predictably, Sharma lost the election. Rao directed his employees deployed with the helicopter to bring it back to Mumbai. Sharma, on May 11, 1996, forcibly took possession of the helicopter, dismantled and loaded it on to a truck. When Rao’s employees protested they were intimidated and even assaulted. The truck was driven from Phulpur to his farm in Chhatarpur, Delhi. On arrival it was reassembled and parked in the front lawns where it had been seen by the lady reporter.

On the orders of Sardar Joginder Singh (a former CBI Chief), all officers of the CBI of the rank of Deputy Inspector General of Police and above, were with laptops. I loved to tinker with it and had learnt to make PowerPoint presentations, a novelty of sorts in those days. Suresh Rao and Rakesh Gupta, a Delhi-based friend of his, informed us that Rao was not the only person who had been forcibly made to part with his prized possession. There were many others, in Bombay and Delhi, whose properties had been grabbed by Romesh Sharma. I prepared a presentation on Sharma and kept updating it with bits of information that kept trickling in, including pictures of the properties grabbed by him and other information given by Suresh Rao, Gupta and other informants. However, I could not get an opportunity to share my presentation with my Director TN Mishra on account of his hectic schedule in Delhi and his frequent tours outside.

Fortunately, a delegation of CBI Officers headed by T.N.Mishra, Director, which included me, was visiting Bombay in September, 1998, to share with the Chief Justice of Bombay High Court the concerns of the CBI with the slow pace of trial in the Bombay Bomb Blast case. On my request, the Director took some time out to see my presentation on Romesh Sharma, at the end of which he felt that, though we had adequate material to move against Sharma, we should tread further with utmost caution.

To be continued…