The unit was formed in 1986, when militancy in Punjab was at its heights, with an office in the backyard of the Lodhi Road Police station. For nearly a decade, however, the unit remained in complete anonymity.

“It used to be known as a dumping ground for police officers who either did not perform well or were not in the good books of senior officers,” said a senior police officer. It was also a time when the Delhi crime branch was at its peak. Even the investigation of the 1990s serial bomb blasts was handed over to the crime branch, not to the special cell.

However, in 1998, things began to change. Ashok Chand was appointed DCP. Encounter specialist Rajbir Singh, who had by then made a name for himself, was posted as ACP. Singh handpicked his team from officers whom he had worked with earlier. Mohan Chand Sharma, Badrish Dutt, Lalit Mohan Negi, Hridya Bhushan and several others joined. And since then, there has been no looking back.

Within a couple of years two more branches of the special cell were formed at the south and north districts. “It was a peak time, all the IB inputs used to come to us. DCP Chand and Rajbir Singh ensured that we had excellent relations with the other state police teams too,” said a senior special cell officer. It was during this time that the special cell cracked cases such as the attacks on the Red Fort and Parliament. It was also the time for encounters.

However, success always comes with controversies. One of the first ones was the alleged fake encounter in the underground parking lot of Ansal Plaza. Ashok Chand who had already served as DCP of the special cell for six years was shunted out. Singh also fell out of favour with Joint Commissioner Karnal Singh.

Inspector Sharma, however escaped, but not unscathed by controversies. His promotion as ACP, due for the last two years, had been put on hold due to a series of complaints against him. However, Sharma, with expertise as an intelligence analyst and experience of working on terrorist organization continued to remain in the good books.