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Pradeep Sharma, the most famous and flamboyant former police officer of Mumbai Police, is in the news these days about the upcoming film being made on his life. He played an important role in liberating Mumbai from the terror of the underworld in the 90s.
In conversation with Dainik Bhaskar, Pradeep Sharma shared his opinion about the bitter truth of the police department, the ups and downs of his life and politics. He also made revelations on Dawood Ibrahim’s fear in Bollywood and its current situation. During the interview, he also talked about his upcoming film ‘Ab Tak 112’.
Former police officer Pradeep Sharma.
Question: How did the thought of becoming a policeman come to the mind of a professor’s son? answer: My father was an English professor and vice principal of Dhulia’s college. He wanted me to become a professor or scientist. I also studied till MSc. But a police inspector had come to stay near our house. When I was young, I used to see him going on Bullet wearing uniform and goggles. From there, an attraction and attachment towards the uniform arose. I didn’t like routine life, so I chose this path.
Question: How was the Mumbai of the 90s, whose horror stories are heard even today? answer: At that time, gangsters like Dawood Ibrahim, Chhota Rajan, Arun Gawli and Amar Naik had a strong hold on Mumbai. Three-four shootouts a day were common. Big businessmen, politicians and film stars used to receive extortion calls.
The condition of the common man was such that if someone bought a Maruti 800 or an Omni van, he would get a call from his brother. Even on the interior decoration of weddings and houses, gangsters would leave phone numbers saying ‘call brother’. Bracelets with Dawood’s name and lockets with ‘D’ written on them were worn. There was such an atmosphere of fear.
Gangster Dawood Ibrahim.
Question: During that dangerous period, when you used to go on operations, was there no atmosphere of fear in the house? answer: There is no fear after wearing the uniform. My wife Sankranti’s father is an ex-Air Force officer, who has seen the wars of 1965 and 1971. That’s why there was never an atmosphere of fear in our house. My wife was completely confident that nothing was going to happen to me.
Question: In films or series like ‘Dhurandhar’, Dawood Ibrahim (elder sir) is shown very ill. Is the reality the same?
answer: Yes absolutely. The way ‘Bade Saheb’ (Dawood Ibrahim) is shown ill and his condition in ‘Dhurandhar’ is 80% similar in reality. A little dramatization has to be done in films, otherwise the world will not watch it; Then the director and producer themselves will watch their film sitting in the theatre.
But as far as incidents are concerned, they are all related to real incidents, hence what is shown is completely true.
‘Bade Saheb’ (Dawood Ibrahim) in Dhurandhar.
Question: During that period, you saw the coordination between Bollywood and underworld very closely, what was that? Answer: There was a lot of fear in the film industry at that time. Actors’ face is everything, and the gangsters used to directly threaten ‘I will throw acid on their face’. Out of fear, the poor people did whatever the underworld told them. Some people also took help from him. When I was in the anti-extortion cell, many people from the film industry used to come to me with complaints of threats and we used to solve them.
Question: You have seen a lot of ups and downs in your career. Do you think the system does not respect honest officers? answer: I have always felt this, and many police officers like me suffer from this. In this system, inspectors are used like ‘paper napkins’; Use as long as needed, and throw aside as soon as the roll is finished.
Question: Why are you saying this, any specific incident? answer: When gangster Firoz Kokani killed a constable by shooting him in the chest at JJ Hospital and ran away, at 3 in the night he got a call from the Commissioner saying ‘Pradeep, we have to neutralize all these things’. We risked our lives to pursue them and killed the accused within 8-10 days. But when times change and some technical fault occurs, this system leaves you alone, with no one to support you.
Question: Did your seniors also feel insecure about your success? Answer: It definitely happens. Commissioners come for two years, whereas we have been serving the same city for 35-40 years. We had more public contacts. When big people used to go to the Commissioner and say, ‘Give my case to Pradeep Sharma, Vijay Salaskar or Daya Nayak’, the Commissioner used to get offended. They thought that I was the Commissioner and the name was being changed to Inspector. For this reason we had to travel.
Question: Which was the most interesting or memorable case of your career? answer: For me, every phone call was a story. But there was one big gangster whom I neutralized after searching for him for 10 years. Once I was having dinner with my friend, when I got a call from that gangster demanding extortion. When I took the phone and talked to him legally, he abused me and the entire police force. I had decided that very day that if not today then tomorrow I would finish it.
After 10 years I got that opportunity. Apart from this, killing Pakistani terrorists of Lashkar-e-Taiba and capturing the backup team of IC 814 hijack were also big operations.
Question: Inspired by your life, films like ‘Ab Tak Chhappan’ were made and now ‘Ab Tak 112’ is going to be made. Will we get to see the real and unheard story of Pradeep Sharma?
answer: Films definitely take some cinematic liberty, but ‘Ab Tak 112’ will be different and special because it will have my own story and my own account (experience), due to which the reality will come out more openly. Such a film should come because people like reality.
Earlier, ‘Ab Tak Chhappan’ was made inspired by my CIU unit, which was correct up to 80%. But in this new film the audience will see that the police are actually much smarter than the criminals. Today crime is under control because the police has hijacked the entire communication of gangsters.
The police knows in advance what they think and what they are going to do. You will get to see this real and ground reality in this film.
Question: Your fans want to see you as a big politician or minister, what is your plan? Answer: ‘Once a police officer, always a police officer’. A policeman can never be a good leader, because a leader has to lie. Because of discipline, we cannot adopt lies easily.
