Urban Cowboys

As befits India's dirty Harry, Inspector Pradeep Sharma has a taste for lethal one-liners. Asked how he polices Bombay's gangland, he slams a clip into a confiscated Uzi submachine gun and growls, "A bullet for a bullet." When a group of burly officers begins to work over a pair of reluctant informers handcuffed to a fridge in the station house, he explains, "It's the only language they understand." But Sharma saves his best material to explicate why he does what he does. He leans back in his chair, assumes a deadeyed stare and snarls, "Criminals are filth." He thumbs his chest:...

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