Manoj Kumar Sharma

Manoj Kumar Sharma (born 3 July 1975) is an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer currently serving as the Inspector General of Police of the Central Industrial Security Force at Mumbai CSMI Airport. His journey from poverty to becoming an IPS officer was chronicled in Anurag Pathak's book Twelfth Fail, which was later adapted into the film 12th Fail (2023).

Sharma grew up in Bilgaon, a village in the Morena district of Chambal, in Madhya Pradesh. It is part of a region historically notorious for dacoity.

Following his early education at a local school, Sharma successfully progressed through the eighth grade and later pursued his studies at Maharani Lakshmi Bai Government College of Excellence in Gwalior. However, his academic path encountered an unforeseen obstacle during the 12th grade exams. Subsequently, he gained a B.A. in Hindi and history. Sharma faced numerous challenges in his pursuit of becoming an IPS officer. After several unsuccessful attempts at the Civil Services Examination, he finally succeeded on his fourth attempt, securing rank 121.

Sharma became an officer in the Indian Police Service (IPS) as part of the 2005 batch, and was assigned to the Maharashtra cadre. He was promoted as the Inspector General of Police (IG) and currently serves in the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF).

Manoj Kumar Sharma married Shraddha Joshi Sharma, an Indian Revenue Service (IRS) officer. They have two children, a daughter named Manushree and a son, Manas.

His journey from poverty to becoming an IPS officer was chronicled in Anurag Pathak's book Twelfth Fail. The book was later adapted into the 2023 film 12th Fail. The film was directed by Vidhu Vinod Chopra and features Vikrant Massey as Sharma. The film received widespread critical acclaim.