Sharma, superintendent of police of the state Crime Record Bureau, was the official negotiator from the government. He was seen as Raje’s emissary—not the best credentials when you are with a group of hostile Gurjjars.

When Sharma entered the Gurjjar camp in Pilupura on May 25, they were in no mood to talk—they had 12 bodies lined up at Pilupura. Even when Raje called Bainsala “unreasonable and one-sided”, dimming any hopes of a breakthrough, Sharma kept working to come up with a solution. It took him at least two weeks to make the first talks—held on June 9—possible.

Sharma played the negotiator even in 2006, when he was SP Dausa, when Gurjjars first turned violent demanding reservation. He was SP SOG in 2007 when violence broke again. This time too, soon after the government felt things were going out of hand, Sharma was called for help.

That was May 25, two days after the violence on the Pilupura railway track. Since then, Sharma has been at Pilupura, sitting close to Bainsala. Dressed in a gray safari suit, leather sandals and sunglasses, Sharma shares meals with the Gurjjars, even cracking jokes. For 26 days, Sharma cajoled the Gurjjars even as he doggedly stuck to his stand.

“You can not handle every situation with bullets, sometimes you need a human touch,” said Sharma.

His strong interest in human psychology might have helped Sharma to bring the Gurjjars to the talks table, but he has never pursued the subject academically. But Sharma has a string of degrees to his credit: an MSc in microelectronics, he also did his LLB and later a doctorate in student and police relationship.