The Thief

Sailesh was riding a shared auto rickshaw in what was a bumpy ride on some of the poorly laid Gwalior roads. In the crowded vehicle, strangely he felt he was alone, immersed as he was philosophizing about his life so far. He had seen twenty five summers, gaining experience over the years, doing odd jobs including thefts. He had studied upto 12 th class but then had to leave education and start working to support his parents and two siblings. He had seen his father suffer because of his addiction to drinking and smoking and had vowed not to fall in that trap. He plied his illegal trade but was careful not to get involved in violence. Then a few years back his parents shifted to their ancient house in a village not far from Gwalior. His thought process was interrupted when the auto rickshaw driver called him up as they had reached Gwalior railway station, his destination.

Sailesh entered the Gwalior railway station hoping to get lucky with his trade and get a bonanza from his efforts. Today he planned to steal luggage stored by train passengers as they slept at night. Around 9 pm, he boarded Mahakoshal express, buying a second class ticket, so that he was not caught on that count. Of course he did not book a berth as he did not want his name to be figured in the list of passengers.

It was a three tier bogey and as Sailesh entered he saw people were finishing their meals and getting ready to sleep for the night. Sailesh strolled across the bogey and carefully chose his victim. He saw an old man who had a big bag with him, on which he was keeping a close eye – just like someone who would if there were important and expensive items inside. The old man also had boarded the train at Gwalior.

Sailesh knew that the next station, Jhansi, would be two hours away and wanted to leave the bogey there with his catch so that he would be home by early morning. He waited for the opportune moment, took the bag and got down at Jhansi while most people were sleeping. He changed platforms and caught the next returning train. He was back in Gwalior around 3 am and drove home in an autorickshaw.

He lived alone in an old but comfortable house. He wanted to earn a lot of money by means of his present trade and then settle down in life with a decent small business of his own. He would then think of getting married and having a family. He already had an eye on a pretty girl with whom he was on good terms since childhood.

Naturally at that particular moment he was excited and eager to get inside his house and open the heavy bag to see what was in store for him as a reward for his hard work. Expertly he unfastened the zip lock and opened the bag.

Sailesh always had a steady head over a sturdy body. When he was engaged in any activity, even if they were illegal, his hands remained steady and his face was expressionless so as not to give away his guilty conscience. In other words he was a cool customer.

But today his steeliness deserted him as he opened the bag. He never ever dreamt of what he would find inside the bag! To say that he was shocked is an understatement! He was paralized for a few moments! He was speechless and motionless for what felt like an eternity! What he saw was the body of a slender, fair looking boy with his limbs folded such that the body could fit into the bag. The boy peeked at you with a blank stare, as if asking you as to why he was brought to this pitiable state!

After Shailesh recovered from the initial shock, he observed that there were no apparent injuries on the body nor were there blood stains anywhere in the bag. The boy must have been strangled or perhaps poisoned. Sailesh felt that he was in deep trouble. Images of his life in jail floated in front of his eyes. He was in a real soup. He initially thought of informing the police but then thought against the idea. Would they believe him? No, never!

He slumped onto a chair and held his head in both hands. He thought of the best way to get out of this tight corner in which he found himself. Then an idea struck him. It was still dark outside and if he dug a pit and buried the boy along with the bag, no one would notice. He often worked in the garden in which he was growing some vegetables and so neighbours knew of his hobby. He closed the bag, saying goodbye to the boy, and went outside, keeping the bag hidden in a bush. He started digging deep as he did not want animals to dig out the body and create a problem for him later on.

When he reached a depth of about three feet, his pickaxe struck something which gave a strange sound. On a closer look it was a small earthen pot whose top was covered securely with a leather piece. Carefully, he took out the pot and shook it. It made a clanging sound. Surely it must be full of valuables, Sailesh thought. In his excitement, he forgot about the boy and the bag and went inside his house to inspect the contents.

He opened the leather cover and poured the contents of the pot onto the bed. Sure enough, out came a few gold coins and some pricey jewelry! Sailesh’s happiness and excitement knew no bounds. Now he could leave the illegal profession and start a decent business. Then he suddenly remembered his unfinished job outside and hurriedly picked up the valuables and inserted them into the pot. He securely placed the pot inside a locker and stepped out only to be subjected to another shock!

Meanwhile, not far from Sailesh’s house, Narendra moved on his bicycle for his early morning neighborhood patrol. He was a young newly recruited policeman and was excited about his job. He was slender in build and because of his lean stature the police uniform looked as if dangling from a hanger! He got recruitment in the police department only because of his dad who had retired from the same department after climbing up to the post of Assistant Superintendent. Narendra had passed the written exam and was good at the interview. However, he was lacking in physical attributes. That is where his dad came to his rescue with a few words here and there!

Nevertheless, Narendra wanted to make his mark in the department and worked hard. He was looking for an opportunity to shine by making a good investigation or by unearthing some key evidence in a criminal case. As he moved on his bicycle, he was very alert and was constantly looking for signs of criminal intent. When he reached Sailesh’s house, there were two things which caught his eyes. He saw a big bag protruding from a bush and a large pit dug freshly in the vicinity. Curious, he parked his bicycle and moved closer to have a look. His sixth sense told him there was something fishy going on! He looked up and his eyes moved towards the house entrance exactly when Sailesh came out!

Sailesh and Narendra stared at each other for a few seconds which felt like ages! Sailesh was aghast to see a policeman at his residence when there was a dead body around and a pot full of treasure! Narendra sensed the discomfiture in Sailesh’s behaviour from his body language. At the same time Narendra’s body was shaking from the excitement he felt in the discovery of crime for the first time in his short career.

Narendra wanted to show to Sailesh as to who was the boss and pointing towards the bag and the pit, he shouted,” What the hell is going on?” Sailesh did not answer for a few seconds. He calmed himself down before he answered,”It is an unwanted bag which had brought me bad luck in life and so i was getting rid of it, nothing more”

“Can you open the bag; I want to see for myself what is inside”

Reluctantly, Sailesh moved towards the bag and Narendra also came closer to have a look.

When the bag was opened, revealing the contents, all blood drained from Narendra’s face. He became ashen as he saw that piercing stare from the dead boy! Narendra felt nauseated and vomited. He felt darkness overwhelm him and he ultimately collapsed in a heap in front of Sailesh.

Sailesh could not believe his eyes! He was worried about one dead body inside the bag and now he had another nearly-dead body outside! His mind was in a daze. What should he do now? The policeman would regain his senses at some point and would phone his superiors about the matter. Surely it seemed that his freedom was about to come to an end. The police would also search his house and discover his treasure too. For a brief moment he thought of killing the man and dumping him with the bag into the same pit that he was digging. No, he could never take a life! That was out of the question. Then what to do, he asked himself? Then he had a clear vision of what he should do.

He lifted the limp policeman and carried him inside his house and laid him on the bed. He sprayed some cold water on his face and patiently waited for signs of recovery. Meanwhile, he prepared some hot tea. When Narendra regained his consciousness, he first struggled to find his bearings and looked very agitated. It took him some time to recollect his recent mis-adventure and realized that he was on patrolling duty and was on the verge of a great achievement when he fainted.

Narendra did not have the experience or the expertise to handle this delicate matter and was at a loss of words to counter Sailesh’s suggestion. It seemed odd for him to agree to a proposal from a ‘criminal’ when it was him who was supposed to take the initiative. Anyway, he tried to pose a false bravado and, using stern words, asked Sailesh to better spill the beans quickly.

Sailesh gave his background and explained the last night’s adventure starting from Gwalior railway station, then on to Jhansi from where he returned with the stolen bag to his house. His panic in discovering the boy’s body in the bag and his decision to bury the same in his garden.

Narendra was convinced that the story meted out by Sailesh in his defence was true. He was not exactly sure as to what action would be appropriate in the circumstances. So he decided to get in touch with his dad, who must have woken up from his night’s rest by then. His father advised him to take Sailesh and the bag with its contents to the police station and book an FIR. His father thought it was honourable on the part of Sailesh to have treated Narendra in the manner he did and for agreeing to help in the investigation to unearth the actual crime which was the murder of the boy. The police inspector would then begin the process of investigation. The boy’s identity had to be established and post mortem done to find the cause and time of death. The man who was carrying the bag in the train had to be tracked down and his statement taken.

As advised, Narendra parked his bicycle at Sailesh’s house and they called a cab to take them to the police station. Of course they took the bag along. The name of the Police Inspector assigned to the case was Subhash Belwade. Known for his knack of unearthing complicated criminal cases, Subhash was a smart, tall guy with a passion for guns. He was also a sharp shooter whose services were called specifically for cases where hostages were taken by terrorists.

There were shocked faces at the police station as they saw the body and learnt about the circumstances leading to that situation. Subhash Belwade and other officers were happy with the dedication shown by Narendra in performing his duties. That part of the story when Narendra had fainted was of course not mentioned or recorded. Sailesh gave his statement of the events of the previous night . He gave the bogey number and approximate seat number of the old man who was carrying the big bag.

The police headed by Shubash went to the railway station and got the list of passengers travelling in the stated bogey the previous night. Only one man was in the age bracket indicated by Sailesh. His name was Anil Pande. The police got his phone number and called him. He was in Jabalpur. A special police team was dispatched to do the initial interrogation and bring him to Gwalior.

On quizzing, Anil Pande gave his part of the story of that eventful night. He was waiting at the platform at the Gwalior railway station on that night when a short man with a dark complexion approached him. He pleaded with Anil to carry a bag to Jabalpur. It contained documents and samples of building materials which were urgently required to start construction of a temple there. He would instruct someone to collect the bag at Jabalpur. As he mentioned about the temple, Anil could not refuse. The short man hired a cooley to take Anil’s luggage as well as the bag to the train on arrival. He was a bit apprehensive during the journey. What if it was stolen? And sure enough, when he woke up at Katni the bag was gone. He complained to the railway staff on duty and tried to contact the short man on his telephone number but it did not work. Subhash tracked down the railway staff on duty on that night who confirmed that a complaint of a lost bag was indeed booked by Anil Pande. This was also confirmed by some of the passengers in that bogey on the phone.

Subhash was now certain that the short man who had handed over the bag at the platform was the main suspect. So now they had to make all efforts to trace him. With the help of an artist and Anil Pande, a sketch was made of the short man and pictures were posted at vital locations. The sketch prepared was not very accurate as the short man had put a muffler around his face and so all his features were not seen properly. The postmortem report had confirmed death by strangulation and the time of death was sometime around 8 pm. This was about 45 minutes before the bag was handed over to Anil.

Police were posted around the railway station to be on the lookout for a short, dark man of fifty. Days passed but there was no positive news. Two short men were produced but Anil failed to identify them. The forensic report had suggested the boy’s age was fourteen years. As the time between the boy’s death and the time of delivery of the bag was only about 45 minutes, Subhash inferred that the murder must have taken place quite near to the station. It was now 8 days since the murder had happened but no missing report had been filed in any police stations so far. If the parents were involved in the crime then of course they would not file such a report. Then Subhash had a brilliant idea. Why not check with the schools in the vicinity of the railway station? If the school in which the boy was studying had raised the issue of his absence, the guilty parents would have given a false excuse. Subhash told his deputies to visit the schools in the neighborhood and find out if a boy of 14 years was missing his classes in the last week or so. After much negative feedback, there was affirmative information from an English medium school. One boy studying in 8th class was not attending his classes for the last 9 days. His name was Rajeev Shrivastava. The name of his guardian was Kumar Shrivastava, his father. It appeared the boy had lost his mother a few years back. The address and contact numbers were given to the police.

Inspector Shubash himself went immediately to the location but the flat in the multi-storey building was locked. Enquiries were made with the residents of the building. They confirmed that Kumar had locked his flat and left 8 days ago. No, they had not seen or heard anything fishy on that fateful day. Police found that his phone was switched off. On making further enquiries, Kumar’s village address was found. Ultimately, Kumar was caught and brought to Gwalior. Anil Pande confirmed that it was Kumar who had handed him the bag. His fingerprints matched those found on the boy’s clothes and on the inner side of the bag.

Accosted with all these details, Kumar broke down and admitted he had strangulated his son because he had frequently objected to his love affair with a girl half his age after Rajeev’s mother had passed away.. One such occasion was on that fateful night when the boy had caught them red-handed in the bedroom. Kumar lost his cool and as Rajeev started shouting he caught hold of his throat to silence him. Kumar then realized that the boy was dead. Both Kumar and his mistress panicked when this event occurred. Their senses got numb and were at a loss to decide what steps to take next to escape the wrath of the State. They decided to hide the crime and thought the best way to get rid of the body was to put it in a bag and hand it over to an unsuspecting train traveller. They jumped to this option because the railway station was just around the corner.

Both Kumar and his mistress were arrested for murder and put behind bars.They were then produced in the court. The court sentenced them to life imprisonment for Rajeev’s murder.

It was only because of the petty thief Sailesh, and the policeman Narendra, that the murder mystery could get unraveled. Inspector Shubash was up to the task in unearthing the mystery in record time.

No complaint was booked against Sailesh as he had assisted the State in conducting the investigations. However, Sailesh was reprimanded and sentenced to three months of community service by the court. After completing that period, Sailesh settled down in life using the treasure he had discovered, in small measures, to start a small legal business. Regarding the ownership of the treasure-filled pot, he had no guilt of being on the wrong side of law as he was sure it belonged to one of his ancestors who lived in the same house, albeit expanded and renovated, over the years.

He lived in a small house alone as he was not married yet. He wanted to earn a lot of money by means of his present trade and then settle down in life with a decent small business of his own. He would then think of getting married and having a family. He already had an eye on a pretty girl with whom he was on good terms since childhood.

Naturally at this moment he was excited and eager to get inside his house and open the heavy bag to see what was in store for him as a reward for his hard work. Expertly he opened the zip lock and opened the bag.

He slumped onto a chair and held his head in both hands. He thought of the best way to get out of this tight corner in which he found himself. Then an idea struck him. It was still dark outside and if he dug a hole outside and buried the boy along with the bag, no one would notice. He often worked in the garden in which he was growing some vegetables and so neighbours knew of his hobby. He closed the bag, saying goodbye to the boy, and went outside, keeping the bag hidden in a bush. He started digging deep as he did not want animals to dig out the body and create a problem for him later on.

Meanwhile, not far from Sailesh’s house, Narendra moved on his bicycle for his early morning patrolling in the neighborhood. He was a young newly recruited policeman and was excited about his job. He was slender in build and because of his lean stature the police uniform looked as if dangling from a hanger! He got recruitment in the police department only because of his dad who had retired from the same department after climbing up to the post of Assistant Superintendent. Narendra had passed the written exam and was good at the interview. However, he was lacking in physical attributes. That is where his dad came to his rescue with a word here and a word there!

Nevertheless, Narendra wanted to make his mark in the department and worked hard. He was looking for an opportunity to shine by making a good investigation or unearth some key evidence in a criminal case. As he moved on his bicycle, he was very alert and was constantly looking for signs of criminal intent. When he reached Sailesh’s house, there were two things which caught his eyes. He saw a big bag protruding from a bush and a large hole dug freshly in the vicinity. Curious, he parked his bicycle and moved closer to have a look. His sixth sense told him there was something fishy going on! He looked up and his eyes moved towards the house entrance exactly when Sailesh came out!

Narendra wanted to show to Sailesh as to who was the boss and pointing towards the bag and the hole, he shouted,” What the hell is going on?” Sailesh did not answer for a few seconds. He calmed himself down before he answered,”It is an unwanted bag which had brought me bad luck in life and so i was getting rid of it, nothing more”
“Can you open the bag; I want to see for myself what is inside”
Reluctantly, Sailesh moved towards the bag and Narendra also came closer to have a look.

Sailesh could not believe his eyes! He was worried about one dead body inside the bag and now he had another near-dead body outside! His mind was in a daze. What should he do now? The policeman would regain his senses at some point and would phone his superiors about the matter. Surely it seemed that his freedom was about to come to an end. The police would also search his house and discover his treasure too. For a brief moment he thought of killing the man and dumping him with the bag into the same pit that he was digging. No, he could never take a life! That was out of the question. Then what to do, he asked himself? Then he had a clear vision of what he should do.

Sailesh calmed him down a bit and offered him water and tea with some snacks added in good measure to bring blood back in to his face. When the situation was conducive to a conversation, Sailesh was the first to react, “Hi! My name is Sailesh and this is my house. I can give you the complete story behind the unusual situation that we find ourselves in, right from the beginning. Then we can decide our next step”
Narendra did not have the experience or the expertise to handle this delicate matter and was at a loss of words to counter Sailesh’s suggestion. It seemed odd for him to agree to a proposal from a ‘criminal’ when it was him who was supposed to take the initiative. Anyway, he tried to pose a false bravado and, using stern words, asked Sailesh to better spill the beans quickly.

Sailesh gave his background and explained the last night’s adventure starting from Gwalior railway station, then on to Jhansi from where he returned with the stolen bag to his house. His panic at discovering the boy’s body in the bag and his decision to bury the same in his garden.

Narendra was convinced about the story meted out by Sailesh in his defence. He was not exactly sure as to what action would be appropriate in the circumstances. So he decided to get in touch with his dad, who must have woken up from his night’s rest by then. His father advised him to take Sailesh and the bag with its contents to the police station and book an FIR. His father thought it was honourable on the part of Sailesh to have treated Narendra in the manner he did and for agreeing to help in the investigation to unearth the actual crime which was the murder of the boy. The police inspector would then begin the process of investigation. The boy’s identity had to be established and post mortem done to find the cause and time of death. The man who was carrying the bag in the train had to be tracked down and his statement taken.

There were shocked faces at the police station as they saw the body and learnt about the circumstances leading to the present situation. Subhash Belwade and other officers were happy with the dedication shown by Narendra in imparting his duties. That part of the story when Narendra had fainted was of course not mentioned or recorded. Sailesh gave his statement of the events of the previous night . He gave the bogey number and approximate seat number of the old man who was carrying the big bag.

Police were posted around the railway station to be on the lookout for a short, dark man of fifty. Days passed but there was no positive news. Two short men were produced but Anil failed to identify them. The forensic report had suggested the boy’s age was fourteen years. As the time between the boy’s death and the time of delivery of the bag was only about 45 minutes, Subhash inferred that the murder must have taken place quite near to the station. It was now 8 days since the murder had happened but no missing report had been filed in any police stations so far. If the parents were involved in the crime then of course they would not file such a report. Then Subhash had a brilliant idea. Why not check with the schools in the vicinity of the railway station? If the school in which the boy was studying had raised the issue of his absence, the guilty parents would have given a false excuse. Subhash told his deputies to visit the schools and find out if a boy of 14 years was missing his classes in the last week or so. After much negative feedback, there was affirmative information from an English medium school. One boy studying in 8th class was not attending his classes for the last 9 days. His name was Rajeev Shrivastava. The name of his guardian was Kumar Shrivastava, his father. It appeared the boy had lost his mother a few years back. The address and contact numbers were given to the police.

Accosted with all these details, Kumar broke down and admitted he had strangulated his son because he had continuously objected to his love affair with a girl half his age after his mother had passed away in mysterious circumstances. One such occasion was on that fateful night when the boy had caught them red-handed in their bedroom. Kumar lost his cool and as Rajeev started shouting he caught hold of his throat to silence him. Kumar then realized that the boy was dead. Both Kumar and his mistress panicked when this event occurred. They decided to hide the crime and they thought the best way to get rid of the body was to put it in a bag and hand it over to an unsuspecting train traveller. That’s what they did.

It was only because of the petty thief Sailesh, and the policeman Narendra, that the murder mystery could get unraveled. Inspector Shubash was up to the task in unearthing the mystery in record time.

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