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Rahul Sharma (Gujarat police)

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Rahul Sharma
EducationElectrical Engineer
Alma materIndian Institute of Technology Kanpur
Occupation(s)Lawyer,ex-Indian Police ServiceOfficer
Known forpolicing during2002 Gujarat riots
SpouseSumita
AwardsSatyendra K. Dubey Memorial Award

Rahul Sharmais an exIndian Police Service(IPS) officer of theGujaratcadre turned practicing lawyer withGujarat High Court.He was inducted into the service in 1992. He played a crucial role in policing operations during the2002 Gujarat riots.He was seconded to theCentral Bureau of Investigation(CBI) in 2004, and served there for the next three years. Later, he served as theDIG(armed unit) atRajkot,Gujarat until seeking voluntary retirement from active service in 2015.[1][2]

Personal life[edit]

Rahul Sharma is a 1992 Gujarat cadre ex-IPS officer. He received a Bachelor of Technology degree in Electrical Engineering fromIndian Institute of Technology Kanpur(IIT-K) in 1987. He also has a degree in law.[3]Followed by the untimely death of his wife in 2013, he took retirement from the police service and started serving as a lawyer at Gujarat High Court.[4][5]

2002 Gujarat riots[edit]

Bhavnagar[edit]

When the2002 Gujarat riotsbroke out on 28 February 2002, Sharma was the Superintendent of Police (SP) inBhavnagardistrict, heading a 180-strong police force. He became widely known as one of the few district police chiefs to have "responded vigorously" to control the violence.[6]

On the third day of the violence (2 March), a mob of about 10,000 people tried to set fire to amadrasaon the outskirts of Bhavnagar, a residential Muslim school sheltering 400 students. Sharma issued orders to open fire on the mob, causing injuries and some fatalities, thereby dispersing the mob and averting a disaster. Subsequently, he transferred the children to a safer location inside the city. His timely action was praised byL. K. Advani,the then Union Home Minister, in India's Parliament as well as in his autobiography.[7][6]On the other hand,Narendra Modi,the then Chief Minister of Gujarat, was angry, according toKingshuk Nag,complaining that he was "trying to seek cheap publicity and act like a hero."[8]

Sharma's actions also angered the state home ministerGordhan Zadafia,who is reported to have said that "the ratio of deaths" due to police firing was "not proper," meaning that more Hindus than Muslims died due to police firing in Bhavnagar. Sharma also refused to release 21 miscreants arrested for attack on a mosque, as requested byBJPpoliticians. LocalGujaratinewspapers complained that Hindus were not able to avenge theGodhra train burning.Sharma was transferred out of field operations on 24 March and posted as the deputy commissioner of police (DCP) in Ahmedabad's control room.[9]

Crime Branch and Call Data Records[edit]

In his new role as the deputy commissioner inAhmedabad,Sharma was asked to assist the Crime Branch of Ahmedabad in investigating theGulberg SocietyandNaroda Patiyacases. Noting the allegations of complicity by police officers and political leaders in the riots, he suggested that their mobile phone records be examined to ascertain their movements. Accordingly, mobile phone 'call data records' (CDR) were requested from the local phone companiesIdea CellularandVodafone India.The Crime Branch chief,P. P. Pandey,asked Sharma to process the data himself since it was his idea, which required him to copy the data onto his home computer. Before he could complete the processing, Sharma was transferred out of his post again, in early July. He said that he handed over the CD's containing the data to Pandey through a messenger, but they became untraceable afterwards. Several years after the event, the Gujarat government claimed that Sharma did not submit the CDs and charged him with misconduct.[10][11]

Since Sharma had a copy of the data on his home computer, he was able to copy it to CD's and submit it to theNanavati-Shah commissionand the Banerjee Committee in 2004, and the Supreme Court-appointed Special Investigation Team later in 2008. The advocateMukul SinharepresentingJan Sangharsh Manchasked for a copy of the CD from the Banerjee Committee and received it. This enabled lawyers, activists and victims to cite the data, implicating a number of political leaders and police officers, includingMaya Kodnani,Jaideep Patel,Babu Bajrangi,police inspector K. K. Mysorewala and senior police officers M. K. Tandon and P. B. Gondia. Calls were also found to have been exchanged with the Home Minister Gordhan Zadafia and the Chief Minister's office in the midst of riots.[12][13][14][15] But the Special Investigation Team did not take action against the senior police officers and politicians.

Nanavati Commission Report[edit]

TheNanavati-Shah commissionreport on the riots has raised a finger of suspicion over the role of Rahul Sharma (among others) in the riots.[16]

Activism[edit]

Sharma along with Jan Sangharsh Manch organized a rally for civil rights forDalitsin general and to protest the flogging of Dalit youths atUna, Gujaratin particular in August 2016.[17]

Recognition[edit]

In 2012, Sharma was awarded theSatyendra K. Dubey Memorial Awardby the IIT-K alumni for having distinguished himself with highest professional integrity.[3][7]

Politics[edit]

In Jun 2017, he declared to float a political party i.e. Smart Party along with some of his friends to contest upcoming assembly elections.[18]

References[edit]

  1. ^"Gujarat riots: How IPS officer Rahul Sharma exposed 'rioters'".India Today.12 August 2011.
  2. ^http://indianexpress /article/india/india-others/gujarat-ips-officer-rahul-sharma-who-took-on-govt-to-retire/%7Ctitle=GujaratIPS officer Rahul Sharma who took on govt to retire
  3. ^abGrapevine: Newsletter of Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur 2012Archived7 May 2013 at theWayback Machine
  4. ^http:// business-standard /article/pti-stories/guj-ips-officer-rahul-sharma-s-wife-dies-of-dengue-infection-113081800683_1.html%7Ctitle=Guj:IPS officer Rahul Sharma's wife dies of dengue infection
  5. ^http://zeenews.india /news/gujarat/ex-ips-rahul-sharma-who-took-on-gujarat-govt-to-be-lawyer_1561674.html%7Ctitle=Ex-IPSRahul Sharma, who took on Gujarat govt, to be lawyer
  6. ^abMitta 2014,p. 83.
  7. ^ab"IIT-K alumni honour Rahul Sharma".The Times of India.22 February 2013.Retrieved30 August2014.
  8. ^Nag 2013,p. 100.
  9. ^Mitta 2014,p. 84.
  10. ^"Gujarat govt chargesheets 'whistle-blower' IPS officer Rahul Sharma".rediff.13 August 2011.Retrieved30 August2014.
  11. ^"CAT stays action against Rahul Sharma".The Times of India.4 April 2012.Retrieved30 August2014.
  12. ^Mitta 2014,pp. 87ff.
  13. ^"Naroda verdict may spell trouble for top cops, ex-minister".Hindustan Times.1 September 2012. Archived fromthe originalon 4 September 2014.Retrieved30 August2014.
  14. ^"10 people who got away".Tehelka.10 March 2012.Retrieved30 August2014.
  15. ^Jan Sangharsh Manch."The Deadly Plan: How the Gujarat riots were engineered".TruthofGujarat.
  16. ^"Nanavati Commission on 2002 riots clears then Gujarat CM, points fingers at 3 cops".11 December 2019.
  17. ^http://indianexpress /article/india/india-news-india/days-after-show-of-unity-dalit-outfits-go-separate-ways-2956647/%7Ctitle=Unaflogging: Days after show of unity, Dalit outfits go separate ways
  18. ^"Rahul Sharma to float 'smart' political outfit".The Times of India.

Sources[edit]

  • Mitta, Manoj (2014).The Fiction of Fact-Finding: Modi & Godhra.HarperCollins Publishers India.ISBN978-93-5029-187-0.
  • Nag, Kingshuk (2013).The NaMo Story - A Political Life.Roli Books.ISBN978-8174369383.
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