Ramesh Sharma

Ramesh Sharma was born in India in the mid‑1950s. By the early 1980s, he was employed as a police constable and stationed in Madhya Pradesh. He was regarded as a routine member of the police force with no widely documented disciplinary history or public record of violent behavior prior to the incident.

At the time of the attack, Sharma was assigned to security duty at the Pashupatinath Temple in the town of Mandsaur. He was part of a team of five officers responsible for maintaining round‑the‑clock security at the temple complex. According to witness accounts and police statements, Sharma appeared calm and behaved normally throughout the day of 23 July 1983.

Approximately fifteen minutes before the shooting began, Sharma visited a tea shop near the temple, where he drank tea and casually showed photographs of the temple to others present. There were no visible signs of agitation or distress reported by those who interacted with him shortly before the attack.

No definitive motive for Sharma’s actions was established by investigators before his death.

On the evening of 23 July 1983, Ramesh Sharma carried out a mass shooting at and around the Pashupatinath Temple complex in Mandsaur, Madhya Pradesh.

At approximately 7:30 p.m., Sharma entered a tea shop adjacent to the temple. He was armed with a Lee–Enfield rifle, his standard service weapon, and carried dozens of cartridges in his pockets. Inside the shop, he aimed his rifle at Pradeep, the nephew of the shop owner, and asked him if he should be shot. Sharma then fired, killing Pradeep at the scene.

He next shot Rakesh Jain, an idol shop owner in the temple area, wounding him in the shoulder. Jain attempted to escape into a nearby Hanuman temple. At this point, Motia Bai, another shop owner, confronted Sharma verbally. Sharma responded by shooting and killing Motia Bai and her son Hari, who was eating dinner at the time.

Sharma then followed Rakesh Jain into the temple. After removing his shoes, he entered the shrine and shot Jain at close range in the abdomen, killing him. He then put his shoes back on and exited the temple.

Outside, Sharma was approached by fellow police constable Kanhaiyalal Dube, who attempted to calm him. Before any de‑escalation could occur, Sharma shot and killed Dube.

Sharma then entered the main Pashupatinath Temple, where an aarti ceremony attended by approximately sixty worshippers had just begun. He fired multiple rounds into the crowd, injuring several people. He shouted for the ceremony to stop. The priest, Ramachandra Shukla, apparently unaware of the severity of the situation, raised his hand to silence him. Sharma shot the priest in the arm and head, killing him.

At around 7:45 p.m., Sharma left the temple area and moved toward the surrounding streets of Mandsaur. Over the next half hour, he shot and killed seven additional people in public areas as police attempted to locate and contain him.

At approximately 8:20 p.m., Sharma was confronted by police officer Mewa Lai. Sharma fired a shot at the officer, which missed and instead killed Sakina, an 18‑year‑old woman. Mewa Lai returned fire, striking Sharma in the chest and killing him.

The entire attack lasted approximately 50 minutes. Sharma fired 34 rounds, killing 14 people and injuring nine others. One live cartridge remained chambered in his rifle, and an additional 35 rounds were found in his pockets after his death.