Former top cop Pradeep Sharma has received a life sentence in connection with the Lakhan Bhaiya Encounter Case of 2006. The High Court has acquitted six out of the 21 individuals accused in the case while affirming the trial court’s decision to sentence 11 others.
Tragically, two of the convicted individuals passed away while awaiting the hearing of their appeals. All defendants in the case had lodged appeals against their convictions and sentences. Additionally, the state, along with the complainant Advocate Ram Prasad Gupta, filed an appeal contesting Sharma’s acquittal.
Following the appeal hearings, the bench comprising Justices Revati Mohite-Dere and Gauri Godse declared on Tuesday that the trial court’s judgment was flawed and unsustainable.
Who is Pradeep Sharma?
Pradeep Sharma hails from the renowned 1983 cohort of police officers. This group of officers gained acclaim for their significant efforts in combating the Mumbai underworld, which at the time was dominated by figures such as Dawood Ibrahim Kaskar, Chhota Rajan, Arun Gawli, Amar Naik, and others.
In 1999, Sharma and his team members successfully neutralized Vinod Matkar, an associate of Chhota Rajan, who had been tasked by the crime boss to eliminate Ibrahim in Pakistan. During the same year, the officer also took down Sadiq Kalia, a prominent member of the D-Company gang, in Dadar, Mumbai.
Apart from that in 2003, Pradeep Sharma and his team eliminated three individuals suspected to be associated with Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) in the Goregaon area of Mumbai. Among them, Abu Sultan and Abu Anwar were identified as Pakistani nationals.
Pradeep Sharma Controversy
Pradeep Sharma is no alien to controversies, in the year 2008 he was dismissed from his services for allegedly having links with the underworld. Following that in 2010 Sharma was arrested for the alleged fake encounter with Rajan gang member Ramnarayan Gupta alias Lakhan Bhaiya in November 2006.
In 2017, he was reinstated and assumed the role of leading the Thane Police’s Anti-Extortion Cell. However, in July 2019, he chose to resign from his position to align with the unified Shiv Sena. He subsequently ran for the assembly elections from Nalasopara in Mumbai, experiencing a defeat in the process.
Sharma faced his second arrest in 2021 by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) after his involvement was implicated in both the Antilia explosives scare and the Mansukh Hiran murder case.
What is Lakhan Bhaiya Encounter Case 2006?
On November 11, 2006, a team from the Mumbai Police reportedly apprehended Lakhan Bhaiya from Vashi, situated in the satellite township of Navi Mumbai, suspecting him to be associated with the Chotta Rajan gang, alongside Anil Bheda. On that very day, Lakkhan Bhaiya was reportedly killed in an encounter near Nana Nani Park in Versova, located in the western suburbs.