Police caught a thief
It was July 1988. It was definitely Friday morning. Friday being the parade day, Police Inspector Bhatt had woken up early in the morning, but since it had been raining heavily since early morning, the parade could not take place. Instead of taking a rest again, Insp. Bhatt thought it would be better to go to the police station early and do the pending daily work. His writer P. Const. Abdul Hameed Pathan and P. Const. Ratnagiri Gagagiri were present at the police station.
Mehsana Town P. Sta. is considered a police station with a lot of work. The flow of people starts from the morning itself for various work, but due to the heavy rain today, there were no visitors. Due to which Insp. Bhatt was able to complete a good amount of office work. There was some commotion outside the police station. Three-four men were catching someone and bringing them to the police station. P. Co. Ratnagiri and Abdul immediately came out of the P. Inspector’s room and went towards these coming people. Other staff of the P. Sta. also moved towards them. Inspector Bhatt was thinking that what kind of criminal people would have caught in such a heavy rain. Would it be a pickpocket or a burglar or someone caught in a murder or molestation case.
While his imagination was flowing, the Post Office Officer came and said, “Sir, there are people from the society near Garnala and they have caught a Khatla Chor.” Instructing them to bring them before him, Ins. Bhatt got into a thought. “Khatla Chor”? In his 20 years of police service, he had come across many types of criminals, but this was the first time that Khatla Chor criminals were involved. There, the Post Office Officer took the Khatla Chor along with the people who came and entered P. E. Bhatt’s office. P. E. Bhatt looked at the thief and found him to be of a slender build, 30-32 years old, with a beard, wearing only pants. And he was also completely soaked and water was dripping from his body. It was clear from looking at him that the people of the society had beaten him up properly and it was quite natural to do so.
In the absence of fear of being caught or recognized in a crowd, the hidden brutality within oneself comes out, and other humans trapped in the situation become its prey. One of the people who came started the conversation: “Sir, I get up every morning and exercise. Today it was raining heavily, so I was standing by the window to exercise at home and get some fresh air, when I saw this thief. The windows and doors of Bhagirathbhai’s house were closed, and the thief was carrying the bed lying in the porch outside. I immediately ran downstairs, shouted, gathered others, caught him, and we all brought him here. Sir, it is the duty of all citizens to help the police, so some were talking about killing and beating this thief and letting him go, but sir, your health is also good, that is why we caught him and brought him to you.” The young man was praised. Bhatt asked his name and address, but amidst everyone’s surprise, he remained mute and indicated by gesture that he was mute. Can he read and write? When asked, he also indicated in the negative. The people who came with him could not tell whether he was mute or not.
Shri Bhatt asked the people who came to him to sit in the post office officer’s room, who felt it was necessary to get more details by questioning him in private. He started his interrogation separately. Po. E. Bhatt showed sympathy. When asked why he was stealing the bed, the thief started talking. Po. E. was very surprised. He also got angry that perhaps this thief was a habitual and stubborn criminal and was trying to fool the police, but Shri Bhatt did not lose his patience. In such a situation, if one remained patient and calmly questioned, one could find out very important facts. Perhaps the facts about some unsolved thefts could also be found, but at the same time, the thought occurred to Ins. Bhatt, why would a reckless criminal steal such a cheap Kathi bed, and that too during the day when there was a high chance of being caught?
However, the solution to the puzzle was right in front of Mr. Bhatt, and his ambition was to extract the true truth from this criminal, and Mr. Bhatt started questioning him in detail…. But the fact that came to his attention was heartbreaking. It was a shocking situation for a police officer who was on duty within the limits of the law. He did not have the money to save the child’s life or buy it, nor did anyone show such generosity towards this poor, helpless person as to use the cot in the pouring rain. He did not understand anything. The victim of the crime was taken to the attic of a building in a nearby society, and was going home when he was caught. He was not really a thief. If we look at it from a humane point of view, if we forget the definition of theft under Section 378 of the IPC for a moment, he was a victim of that circumstance. The poor laborer belonged to the Devi-worshipping community and lived in a slum behind a public school in Mehsana. This poor man, who worked day and night, barely had enough to feed himself and his wife. Thus, he could hardly fully satisfy the hunger of his beloved wife, but he was fortunate enough to be able to satisfy her hunger for motherhood. His wife was pregnant and her delivery time was very close. There was a possibility that she would give birth to a child any time in a day or two, but due to the sudden torrential rains the previous night, his hut in a low-lying area was flooded with two to three feet of water and if his wife gave birth in this condition, he would not be able to save the child.
The wife asked to bring a cot. To save the life of her beloved first child. He did not have the money to buy it, nor did anyone show him the generosity to let this poor helpless person use a cot in the pouring rain. He did not understand anything. He was finally beaten up and, not noticing anything, he was going home with a cot lying in the attic of a building in a nearby society and was caught. He was suffering more because he was unable to help his wife and unborn child than because of being beaten by cattle or being caught. He had committed the theft, but did he really deserve the penalty? Shri H. D. Bhatt joined as a P.S.E. in 1969 and was promoted to P.E. and posted as P.E. in Mehsana P.S. in October 1987. Such an incident had never happened in his life before. By law, he was bound to register this crime, arrest the accused, and take further action, but his heart refused to do so. P. Co. Abdul and Ratnagiri also had pleading looks on their faces. Thinking twice about helping this helpless man, Mr. Bhatt called the gentlemen who had come with the apparent thief and informed them of all the details. They too were shocked and unknowingly started feeling remorse for the cruelty they had shown towards this oppressed person. The brother whose bed was stolen requested Ins. Mr. Bhatt said that he did not want to file any complaint now. He wanted to give this bed as a gift to the so-called bed thief. Not only that, but they would also bear all the expenses so that his wife could sleep well in the hospital. The eyes of that poor man sparkled, and feeling blessed, he fell at the feet of Ins. Bhatt and others. All the Po. He left the station, but lit a new lamp of humanity, a lamp whose light will guide the steps of all those present on the path of humanity.
(The author is the Chief of Police of Gujarat)
