Shaheed Police Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma

At a time when most fathers would have stayed beside their sick son's hospital bed, tend to his blood transfusion and ensure that the dengue died down, Delhi Police Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma rushed to Jamia Nagar from the hospital to raid a house where terrorists were holed up. He hadn't gone home for three days, rushing from office to hospital and back and his wife expected him to return on Friday evening finally. But home they brought the warrior dead.

Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma Delhi Police

(23 September 1965 − 19 September 2008)

Mohan Chand Sharma (42) was undoubtedly Delhi Police's top shot terror fighter, after ACP Rajbir Singh had been murdered a few months back. But he was no gunslinger. His forte was his technical expertise and his surveillance prowess was unmatched in the force.

Winner of seven gallantry awards, including the President's gallantry medal and 150 police rewards, Mohan Chand Sharma, who moved with extra protection, was credited with the killing of 35 terrorists and the arrest of 80 others. ''We have lost our best man,'' said Joint commissioner (special cell) Karnal Singh, his boss.

There was no big operation in the cell which could be executed without Sharma and he delivered. Some of the cases he will be remembered for include the Parliament attack, Red Fort shootout and Diwali serial blasts. Sharma was instrumental in arrest of four Jaish-e-Mohammad militants in February last year after an encounter at DDU Marg. He was also involved in an encounter which saw the death of one of the most wanted terrorists, Abu Hamza, at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in 2006 after the Diwali blasts.

On Friday morning, when he went into the L-18 house, Sharma was not wearing a bullet-proof jacket. His colleagues said he had joined the team straight from a Dwarka hospital where his younger son is battling dengue.

His two sons are studying in class VIII and IX and a friend recalled that the cop, who was in line for a promotion to ACP, wanted a change of job as he was looking forward to spending time with his family. ''He wanted to teach his children and concentrate on their careers as they were growing,'' recalled a friend.

Sharma had, in fact, sought leave to attend to his son, but then came the Delhi blasts and he was back with his hand on the holster. He was made the Investigating Officer in the case.

There was a time when Sharma and Rajbir were inseparable. Together, they struck fear in the hearts of all anti-social elements. They were looked upon as trigger-happy cops who would not refrain from shooting if criminals crossed their paths.

Like all encounter cops, Sharma's career too was not shorn of controversies. Mohan Chand Sharma often cribbed that his onetime boss, best friend and mentor Rajbir Singh alone got all the credit for their operations, but death perhaps has restored the balance.

Mohan Chand Sharma was often called called Delhi's encounter cop number 2, after Rajbir. But after Rajbir's marginalisation and subsequent death, Sharma was the mainstay of Delhi Police's fight against terrorism. But some say the two had fallen out. When Rajbir was transferred out of the special cell, many believed that special cell would no longer be the same, but Sharma worked overtime to prove this wrong.

Even some of his senior officers grudged the confidence he enjoyed with the chief of special cell. Mohan Chand Sharma joined Delhi Police in 1989 and, 6 years later, got an out-of-turn promotion to become inspector. Sharma, however, came into his own after being transferred to the special cell in 1998.

We Proud Indians Salute you Sir!