Crime: Romesh Sharma; Frontman in the Net

With the arrest of the Dawood associate, the police hope to check the don's expansion plans.

Who wouldn't want to be in Romesh Sharma's shoes? At 40, he has everything that money can possibly buy: over a dozen plush properties, including a swank farmhouse in south Delhi -- complete with a jacuzzi, pool, gym and a badminton court -- and a sprawling bungalow just metres away from the azure waves sweeping Mumbai's Juhu; a Bell helicopter; a fleet of cars comprising three Mercedes, a BMW, a Chevrolet, an Audi, a Pajero, a Honda convertible, besides seven lesser models; not to mention the high connections.

On second thoughts, it may not be such a good idea to be in Sharma's shoes. As the also-ran politician has discovered, there is one thing his mega bucks cannot ensure: immunity from the law. Last Wednesday, Sharma's dream run was shattered when the police arrested him in Delhi on charges of kidnapping, illegal confinement, fraud and criminal intimidation.

Said to be close to Dubai-based don Dawood Ibrahim, Sharma's arrest followed months of vigil maintained by the Union Home Ministry, CBI and the Special Task Force of the Delhi Police. What precipitated matters was a complaint against him by businessman H. Suresh Rao who in April 1996 had leased a helicopter to Sharma when he was contesting the Lok Sabha elections as an Independent from Phulpur in Uttar Pradesh. According to Rao, Sharma did not return the chopper. Each time Rao's men went to claim it, they were allegedly beaten up. In June 1996, Rao managed to get the machine dismantled but could still not get it back. All he received were threatening calls from Dubai. The helicopter was finally seized from Sharma's Delhi farmhouse on October 21.

Following raids on the same day, the police also registered cases against him under the Wildlife Protection Act for hoarding hides of leopards and cheetahs, the Excise Act for illegally stocking his cellars with foreign liquor and the Arms Act for possessing unlicenced weapons. Now the police are working overtime to establish his alleged links with Dawood and his hitmen, Abu Salem, Chhota Shakeel and Irfan Goga, holed up in Dubai. "We have enough reasons to believe that Sharma was privy to huge plans for extortion and kidnapping by the Dubai dons. We intend putting a lid on these plans," says Amod Kanth, joint commissioner. Besides, a team led by Inspector Raman Lamba is trying to link up all calls made between Sharma and his associates with the Dubai-based dons. The Income Tax (IT) Department, on its part, is also investigating possible tax evasions by Sharma, whose assets are estimated at about Rs 500 crore.

Sharma's is the typical rags to riches story. The son of a farmer in Ugrasenpur village, near Allahabad, he moved to Mumbai in 1978. For quite some years, he was doing only menial, odd jobs: from sweeping backlanes to polishing shoes and selling copper wires on the streets. But the money he earned managed to get him a diploma in refrigeration engineering before he could move to the capital in 1987. Here too, he tried his hand at various odd jobs for sometime before diving headlong into the lucrative world of property brokering.

That was the turning point. By the mid-'80s, Sharma claims, he bought the 4,200 sq yard Juhu bungalow. The police however maintain that Sharma forced himself on the property which actually belonged to one of the wealthiest landlords in the area. It was around this time that Sharma seems to have forged his Dubai connections.

If on the one hand his lifestyle reflects his extravagance -- a signboard at his Delhi farmhouse says it is meant "For Parties Made In Heaven" -- the manner in which he joined and left political parties project his cunning. In 1981, he was Charan Singh's right hand as the Lok Dal's general secretary. A couple of years down the line he had jumped on to Maneka Gandhi's bandwagon, the Rashtriya Sanjay Manch. By late 1984, he was in the Congress, welcomed into the party by Rajiv Gandhi himself. Since then he has presided over sundry outfits like the Quami Ekta Committee and Kisan Congress and even floated his own party, the All-India Bharatiya Congress Party, whose stickers are pasted all over his cars.

Yet, for all his contacts and the army of lawyers at his command, Sharma finds himself at his wit's end. "I have been framed, all my assets are lawful gains," he told India Today in police custody. "I am a victim of the terror and hostility unleashed by the Dubai mafia." The enforcement agencies are not willing to buy any of Sharma's arguments. They point out that Sharma has numerous girlfriends who they believe are the key to his dubious contacts in India and the Gulf. They also believe that Dawood, who has been lying low for some time, has plans to set up base in Delhi and are now hoping that Sharma's arrest will throw more light on such designs.

"DAWOOD WANTS ME DEAD"

A day after his arrest, Romesh Sharma spoke to Principal Correspondent Sayantan Chakravarty in police custody. Excerpts:

The police say you harboured Dawood Ibrahim's men in the various houses you own in Delhi and Mumbai?
There is no truth in this allegation. I had to flee Mumbai in 1987 because I was tormented by Dawood's men. They wanted to take away my house in Juhu; when I did not accept their offer, I received several threats. Finally, they set fire to the house, assuming I was inside. Dawood wants me dead. Luckily that day I was aboard a flight to Delhi. I haven't gone there since.

Have you abandoned the property?
In a way, yes. At one point, some 150-200 mafia men were occupying that place. Thirty five of them have been arrested.

The police claim you have 16 properties whose purchase has been financed by the mafia ...
I do not have more than four or five houses of my own. The rest have been wrongly attributed to me.

Your houses are worth crores. You also have a fancy fleet of cars. From where did you get the money to buy them?
I earn enough from my 200 acre farm at Faridabad to keep myself going. My political activities are taken care of by it.

Suresh Rao says at your instance Irfan Goga has been threatening to eliminate him.
Rao is sore with me because he wanted me to pay him Rs 70 lakh for the helicopter I purchased from him. I paid him Rs 30 lakh. The fact is the helicopter is worth not more than Rs 5 lakh.

They say your real name is Ram Chandra Mishra and you have changed it to hide your criminal past?
It is not correct. Ever since my birth, I've had only one name. And it is the one you know.