Pradeep Sharma Files: The Case That Keeps Mumbai’s Encounter Specialist Cop Behind Bars

Organised crime in India refers to organised crime elements originating in India and active in many parts of the world.

Mumbai Underworld vs Pradeep Sharma: It was on 25 February 2021 when a green Mahindra Scorpio SUV containing 20 gelignite sticks was found parked about 400 metres from Antilia, the residence of Mukesh Ambani in Mumbai at about 2:00 am with a note inside the vehicle, addressed to Mukesh and his wife Nita Ambani. Subsequently, a lot of high-profile officers from the Mumbai Police had to resign. One of the most prominent names was that of Pradeep Sharma, a former officer in the city police force. Sharma attained notability as an “encounter specialist” with the Mumbai Encounter Squad and is said to have killed 312 criminals in encounters. However, he was dismissed on 31 August 2008 on charges of corruption. He was reinstated on 16 August 2017 after he was proven innocent but resigned in July 2019.

Pradeep Sharma was arrested on June 17, 2021, in the Antilia case by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) which said “he was not innocent and had committed offences of criminal conspiracy, murder, and terror acts.” The NIA had in May 2022 said in its affidavit filed in the Bombay High Court in the Antilia case that Pradeep Sharma was the “main conspirator” in the “cold-blooded murder” of Thane businessman Mansukh Hiran whose green Mahindra Scorpio SUV was found with the note and gelatin sticks.

Pradeep Sharma was celebrated as an encounter specialist who took on the Bombay/Mumbai underworld when it was at its peak, especially in the 80s and 90s. Pradeep Sharma is said to have conducted more than 100 encounters. After resigning from the Mumbai Police, Pradeep Sharma joined politics and started PS Foundation. The Bombay High Court on December 16, 2022, reserved its order on the bail plea of Pradeep Sharma and he is still in judicial custody in the Antilia and Mansukh Hiran murder cases.

Antilia and the south Mumbai neighbourhood house the who’s who of the Indian corporate world, top politicians, official or private residences of various bigwigs, government officials, diplomats, people from the glamour industry and others.