Saga of three Sharmas - once cops, now criminals

The saga of three Sharmas -- once cops, now criminals 
By Pradeep Rana (IANS)
New Delhi, December 3 
 
It's only a name, and a fairly common one at that, but any Sharmas
with the initial R in the country's police force might just be doing a
serious rethink with three namesakes in custody for various headline
grabbing crimes.

And here they are, all Sharmas, all whose names begin with R, all
senior police officials and all behind bars:

Former Mumbai police commissioner RS Sharma behind bars for his
involvement in the multibillion-rupee Telgi fake stamp paper scam.

Former inspector general (prisons) Haryana Police and former joint
commissioner of Delhi Police RK Sharma, arrested for allegedly
murdering an Indian Express reporter Shivani Bhatnagar four years ago.

Former additional commissioner of police in Delhi Armed Police RK
Sharma, arrested last year for allegedly raping his servant's wife in
Dehradun, Uttaranchal.

The one most recently in the news has been the former Mumbai police
commissioner charged with soft-pedalling investigations into the
activities of master forger Abdul Karim Telgi, estimated to have
amassed between Rs.170 billion and Rs.220 billion by selling fake
stamp papers.

Sharma was police chief of Pune when the investigations began two
years ago.

The second RK Sharma allegedly hired a killer to murder Shivani
Bhatnagar at her flat in east Delhi on January 23, 1999. Sharma and
other five accused were arrested three years after the crime.

None of the accused in the sensational crime has been freed on bail
except Sharma who was released on a day's custody parole to attend his
daughter's wedding.

His bail was rejected by the sessions court and the Delhi High Court.

The third Sharma was arrested on August 22 last year for allegedly
raping his servant's wife in his house in Dehradun. According to the
charge-sheet, the medical report confirmed the rape.

The 27-year-old victim had sustained injuries when she tried to resist
the sexual assault. The charge-sheet alleged that Sharma had raped her
at gunpoint.