Despite promotion as DGP: Anurag Sharma to stay put

But he may be asked to continue in the current post keeping in view his proven managerial skills and non- controversial 20-month stint as Commissioner, in spite of political unrest in the city.

It is widely believed that given the dicey situation in the twin cities, Sharma is likely to be vested with law and order considering that Hyderabad is to be the joint capital of the two new states.

The factors that come in his favour are the upright officer the respect that he commands and more importantly his being a non-Telugu, who could be the perfect ‘neutral’ choice in the given circumstances.

Sharma ensured overall peace in the State capital during the days of uncertainty and turbulence.

His willingness to take stock of the ground realities and understand the pulse of the people has paved the way for an ‘open’ darbar in the office.

"I have to earmark specific time for the people. After all, we are here for them. I make it a point to be available 90 minutes in a day because this exercise will go a long way in establishing a direct rapport between the force and the common man," he told the Hyderabad Hans.

The remarkable change in the functioning style has had a direct bearing on his junior colleagues, who are following suit. Sharma, in fact, visits his office on Sundays and holidays because ‘it helps in clearing files,” he points out.

A facet of Sharma that endears him to one and all is his down-to-earth humble nature despite the status and post he enjoys by the dint of hard-work. A workaholic, he is endowed with intelligence and a sensitive disposition that attracts people from all walks of life.

Soon after assuming the charge, Sharma went about his work as would an entrepreneur. He introduced a vibrant system that gave a thorough makeover to the established norms of policing,

His first priority as he took over as the chief was ‘security of each citizen’. It was important to address the problems of chain snatching and temple robberies.

As he puts it, “most of the complaints that we get on hotline are civic in nature, which have no relevance for security cover.”

Among the major problems confronting him when he took over was the Telangana imbroglio and its fallout that got aggravated with terror strikes at Dilsukhnagar and Hindu and Muslim festivals falling on the same day. When it came to the agitations, he did not play favourites and gave both parties a fair chance.

“There were allegations that I gave permission to Samaikyandhra and not to Telangana protests, which is quite wrong.

“What caught us off-guard was the spate of robberies at temples, including in the heart of the city. My team worked round-the-clock and cracked the mystery. Most of us feared that these incidents could create communal tension.

“Dilshuknagar blast was a huge challenge and restoring confidence among the public was a herculean task. Each of us had a role to play. Agitations like Saagar Haram, Chalo Assembly, United Andhra meeting at Lal Bahadur Stadium were equally challenging because we did not want business establishments to get affected and we did not wish to compromise on security issues. Recently, we had to make special arrangements for festivals. Ramazan and Bonalu, Dusara and Bakr-id, Sankrantri and Milad ul Nabi, fell on the same day. We had to talk to religious heads and form peace committees. We also changed our strategy; we explained the consequences of communal disharmony to hawkers associations, traders and street-side vendors. Fortunately all our efforts had a positive impact.”

"I have two goals in policing. First, we need to humanise our police forces. We aren't an occupying force. We are a part of the community. And we need to understand that to do our jobs, we sometimes need to expose ourselves to a little bit of risk. Otherwise we end up getting paranoid, not out of dignity and respect for the community," he says.

"Second, no bias in what we do. We need to recognise that we too have emotions. One of the most important traits in a good police officer is empathy and concern for fellow-beings. "

He said that he owed his success to his ever-alert team members, who responded to the call of duty without availing leaves or holidays for the past 18 months because of the ongoing agitations.