Sharma146;s death to hamper key cases in court

October 29, 2005:

Three blasts had rocked Delhi 8212; at Sarojini Nagar market, Paharganj and Kalkaji 8212; killing 62 people and injuring 104. Based on phone intercepts collected by Sharma8217;s team 8212; the calls being made on November 1 and November 4 8212; one Tariq Ahmed Dar was arrested on November 10. On November 22, Mohammad Fazili and Mohmmad Rafiq Shah were arrested. The Special Cell claimed that Dar was the financier of the entire operation. Sharma8217;s departure comes at a time when the prosecution is presenting evidence in the court. 8220;It is the most crucial time. He Sharma used to follow the case closely, providing critical inputs to the prosecution lawyers,8221; said an officer who was part of his team.

Arrest of Parvez Ahmed Radoo

October 15, 2006

One of the controversial cases, Radoo, a PhD student of Pune, was arrested. Three kilograms of RDX, Rs 10 lakh in cash and a communication code were recovered from him. According to the Special Cell, he was an operative of Jaish-e-Mohammed. The finance expert of the module, he was facilitating the transfer of money and explosives. Months after his arrest, Radoo sent a letter to the chief metropolitan magistrate, claiming that he was innocent. He also alleged that the Special Cell had detained him for over a month and tortured him. The case is currently being heard.

Murder of Arun Gupta April 7, 2008

Around 10.30 am, three men on a bike shot Arun Gupta in Kalkaji. Gupta8217;s mother-in-law Kanta Devi Mittal was the owner of Mittal Garden, which Gupta had been trying to sell. The case was transferred to the Special Cell on April 10. Sharma8217;s team cracked the case in a record three days and arrested Gupta8217;s brother-in-law D K Mittal. On April 11, the team managed to trace calls that indicated that the accused were in Jamia. On April 13, the officers arrested Mittal. The men who had shot Gupta were Junaid, Zar and Shakeel. A chargesheet has been filed and the Cell was planning to file a supplementary chargesheet.

Arrest of Abdul Rehman alias Mohammad Iqbal May 23, 2008:

Allegedly a Pak-trained HUJI militant, Mohd Iqbal alias Abdur Rehman was arrested from the New Delhi Railway Station. Rehman has been accused of harbouring Babu Bhai, who had been arrested by the Special Task Force of Uttar Pradesh for being an explosive supplier. Rehman had provided shelter to other key HUJI terrorists as well when he was a maulana at a mosque in south-west Delhi. The police also recovered 3 kg RDX, a timer device and five electronic detonators from Janakpuri8217;s D-Block. The RDX, according to the police, had been buried. But questions were raised subsequently regarding the arrest and the recovery and the Special Cell had some tough questions to answer in the court. Rehman8217;s family,

too, had questioned the entire operation.

Amar Singh8217;s phone tapping case

January 2006

Sharma8217;s team was assigned the sensational case of Amar Singh8217;s phone tapping, which had created a political storm. On January 6, days after the complaint was filed, the team arrested Anurag Singh, an expert hacker, who held an MBBS degree. Anurag, who was running a detective agency, had allegedly tapped Amar Singh8217;s phone. Police said Bhupender, the co-owner of the agency, was his aide. Together, they were planning to sell the tapes at a high price to Singh8217;s political opponents. Kuldeep, a dispatch rider of Reliance Infocom, was also arrested. Trial in the case is pending.