Later on, he went on deputation with the prestigious Subsidiary Security Bureau and served at the forward posts bordering China.
My first encounter with gentleman cop Amarjeet Singh Samra happened in the early 70s when he was deputy commissioner of police, Zone-IV, having his office above the Matunga police station. The tall and lanky Sardar, an officer of the 1962 batch of Indian Police Service, had endeared himself to both the officers and men working under him by sheer humane approach and professional policing etiquette.
Later on, he went on deputation with the prestigious Subsidiary Security Bureau and served at the forward posts bordering China. On his return, he was posted with the Central Bureau of Investigation as joint director in charge of Mumbai Zonal Unit.
He came to limelight after the Babri Masjid demolition incident when the city witnessed large-scale communal violence, threatening to dredge the very fabric of the society. Then commissioner of police in Thane, he was summoned by the then chief minister to take charge of the city police in second week of December, 1992, after a week-long communal rioting across the city.
Within days of taking control, Samra succeeded in bringing a semblance of peace to the troubled city, but could not prevent another round of riots in January 1993. Tougher times followed. Serial bomb blasts of March 1993 once again set the city on boil. The morale of the force was at its nadir but Samra, through his leadership, encouraged his men to face the challenges before them. The blast case was cracked within 24 hours and the rest is history.
He knew his job well and brooked no interference from any quarters. His famous stand-off with the then Union home minister was well-known. The minister wanted commissioner to stop his daily press briefings, but he the did not budge. Samra’s uprightness and integrity earned him both respect and fame, but he always remained humble and modest. The force and the city will remember him for a long time to come.
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