The gate of Sharma's house -- no. C-30 -- bears a large padlock. His two poodles sniff at an empty packet of Britannia bread; the domestic helper has left without feeding them. There is a constable on guard round the clock, and the one on duty, Mohan Singh, says: ``Everything is calm now. No one has come here today.'' And then he philosophised: ``If you keep good company, then good things happen to you. The world is round, so whatever you do always comes back to you''.

The neighbourhood has never been so peaceful, even if this tranquility is somewhat temporary. People speak in hushed tones about the women who visited, they whisper about the screams in the night, about men being thrashed and dogs being kicked. The Sharma they remember was a cruel and vindictive man, who grabbed whatever or whoever he took a fancy to.

This two-storey house too is not Sharma's. He allegedly took it over when the owner an ageing widow went abroad for a holiday. A driver who has worked in the colony for the last 12 years says, ``Sharma's goons beat up the watchman and took over the house. The case is now in court. After he moved in nearly ten years ago, this area has never been the same. All kinds of shady characters would hang around here the whole day and night. Even the children were scared to come out and play''.

Mayfair Garden residents say that Sharma would in his characteristic loud and obnoxious manner flout the fact that he ``had arrived''. After all, he now had the right address. ``It was a status symbol for him to live in this posh colony. There was always so much noise and activity in his house, you couldn't help but notice him,'' says a neighbour.

On any given day there were at least 200 visitors at Sharma's residence. And even when these went away, his associates would squat on the public lawns in front of the house.

Apparently, Sharma was a paradox: he thrived on publicity, yet fiercely guarded his privacy. ``He has a close circuit television inside his house. He seemed to be quite paranoid all the time. The interior has been done up like a film set, very garish and gaudy. There are full length mirrors all over the first floor and revolving doors as well,'' says a frequent visitor.

But not all visitors were treated well. ``There were always lots of women here. Some of them were so young that I thought they might have come to him for help with school admissions. I have heard womens' screams in the middle of the night,'' says one Mayfair Garden resident.

She adds that Sharma was allegedly accused of raping a girl as year ago. ``Everyone in this colony knows about it. A young girl was raped in his house for an entire night. The police even came and took away the sofa because it had blood stains on it.'' However, the Hauz Khas police have no record of any such complaint. Station House Officer (SHO) H.M. Bakshi said: ``We have no knowledge of any such case. It would benefit us if we did, because then he wouldn't get bail. We have to interrogate him further''.

A security guard says: ``He frequently beating up his household workers. If he was in a particularly irascible mood, he would even kick his dogs when they barked''.

Yet, one neighbourhood security guard Express Newsline spoke to today was clearly in admiration of Sharma. ``From selling cloth hangers in Sadar Bazar to being such a rich and powerful man is awesome. I wish I could be like him,'' he said.