NEW DELHI: Tihar’s infamous long-term resident, Romesh Sharma, frontman of India’s most wanted criminal Dawood Ibrahim, is now quietly living in his sprawling Chattarpur farmhouse, trying hard to stay away from media glaze, and most importantly, from any trouble from law agencies.
Out of jail on bail for almost one-and-a-half-months, after spending around 13 years there, Sharma, according to people close to him, is focussed on living clean by trying his luck in the booming realty business in the NCR.
According to sources, the criminal-turned-politician had invested heavily in purchasing lands in the NCR at throwaway prices, before a joint team of CBI and Delhi Police arrested him in 1998 and slapped him with more than dozen criminal cases.
The security agencies, however, are not taking any chance with one of India’s most high profile criminals—he had unsuccessfully fought the Lok Sabha polls from Phulpur, UP, in 1996. They are closely monitoring his activities, especially his links with D-Company.
Close to several politicians and businessmen, Sharma’s political activities first alarmed security agencies in 1996. He not only decided to contest the polls, but also floated his own outfit. However he did not know that agencies had been secretly monitoring his phone numbers and had tapped several calls made to D- Company members.
He is still facing trial in an extortion case, along with another of D-Company’s infamous henchmen, Abu Salem, for threatening several Delhi-based businessmen. He allegedly used to collect information on them and pass it on to Salem to send threats from Dubai.
Despite facing trial in several heinous cases, Delhi High Court granted him bail on October 18 because he had already spent 13 years in jail, whereas the maximum punishment is 14 years for the offences charged, in case he got convicted.
Justice V K Shali of Delhi HC said, in his order: “At the outset, it may be mentioned that the petitioner doesn’t have clean antecedents and is involved in a number of criminal matters. But in most of these, he has either been enlarged on bail or has been acquitted or even convicted and sentenced, which, keeping in view the fact that the petitioner has been in custody for the last 13 years, he must necessarily have undergone.”