Encounter man Pradip Sharma completes 'century'

Mumbai Crime Branch officer and 'encounter specialist' Inspector Pradip Sharma created a record of sorts when he killed a gangster in an encounter on Wednesday.

Chhota Rajan's henchman Kamalakar Satardekar, who was gunned down near Evershine Nagar in suburban Malad, became his 100th victim, police sources said.

One of the rare Mumbai police officers to find a place in Time magazine for his action against the underworld, Sharma gunned down the gangsters in a span of nearly 14 years.

Some prized underworld men who fell prey to Sharma's bullets include Dawood Ibrahim's close aide Sadiq Kalya at Dadar in 1999, Rafiq Dabbawala of the Subhash Thakur gang in 2001 and Vinod Matkar of Chhota Rajan's gang, the sources said.

His peers include Inspectors Vijay Salaskar (40 encounter killings), Praful Bhosle (77), Ravindra Angre (51) and Sub-Inspector Daya Naik (82).

"The Crime Branch has always made a united effort to fight the underworld," Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Dhananjay Kamalakar told PTI when asked about Sharma's 'century'.