THE INDIAN CRIMINAL.

Auckland Star, Volume XLI, Issue 37, 12 February 1910, Page 17

THE INDIAN CRIMINAL.

The Indian criminal Is * fat more complex being than, the Western elnner, and his crimes In many respecte are far different He Is seldom violent, or intemperate, and tols laxfty of moral* is rather the outcome of temperament, custom, and heredity than an acquired vice. Aβ Mr. H5. U Adam tells us in. "The Indian Crimlral" (John Milne), a vast amount of crime committed in India is hereditary, and has been so for generations upon generations.

"Thus the natives guilty of such deeds do not imagine that they are committing any heinous offence, inasmuch, as it is a natural result of their birth. Tlhere are vast criminal confederations which have for countless years made crime a profession."

One of the difficulties of dealing with these professional criminals Is the fact that the wrongdoers do not hold themselves morally guilty. They are only doing ■what they have always done, what their fathers did before them, and their grandfathers before them. Moreover, the difficulties of coping with the criminal population, of India are further augmented by the many varieties of which It ie composed.

In England we have to deal with, people of on* nation only, but in India there are vast numbers of races, tribes, and castes, all with different customs and prejudices, and various religions and languages Therefore, compare the task fcefore the toagistrates of India with the magistrate* of this country.

But the magistrate's task of administering- the law Iβ it simple one compared with that of the detective In bringing his quarry to bey. No finer.fcround for detective work could be 'found than India offers. The trackIng of criminals in the Bast Is a ear more complicated affair than It Is in. Europe.: It calls for a subtler intelligence, greater powers of deduction, and keenertobeerra- ,- tlon. The class of criminal that give* the most and Is most difficult to apprehend, Is the poisoner. One of the wordt forms of poisoning which pretallsln India, we are told, is that by means of the agent known as "dbatura." Its effect upon the ■victims, wheii it does not act&ally kill them. Is as diabolical as can be imagined. It Impairs their faculties and frequently reduces them to a state of incurable Idlocy. The main object'of thfe majority of tn« poisoners of India being robbery, It is not essential to them that the victim should be deprived of Mc; it Is sufficient for their purpose that the victim be deprived of consciousness. The chances of detection andpunishment of the criminal are comparatively few, the work of the police extreme- s ly difficult. foea-ths brought about Jh eiicii a: manner—usnally ,by the wayside—are frequently ascribed to disease, nnlclde, or wilS beasts. PROFESSiaXAT. POKSONBB. Another wily customer to deal with is the "marriage agent." He Is In reality.a pro-' fesslonal poisoner, masking iis, nefarious designs tinder the guise of a matrimonial, agent. His plan of campaign is simplicity Itself. (Jetting hold of young men In search, of a life partner, he pretends to search for a suitable female, and eventually Inform* the would-be bridegroom that a tody to his taste awaits him in happy expectancy. The wooer done his best clothes; flHs his pockets with propitiatory gold and silver, and sallies forth with hJs "agent" to meet his Intended. Al-as! the assignation never takes place, for the agent soojl contrives to administer his poison, and while under the Influence of the baleful drug the hapless victim is robbed of clothes and money and left to perish. The most expert pickpockets of India are the Bbamptas.

They are gregarjaue, and "operate" In Bangs or combinations. They are fiood linguists, and they so arrange the use of their different languages that they Invariably contrive to adopt a language alien to the district wherein they are pursuing their nefarious calling. Thus, when they are engaged in Telugti districts they talk Mahrattl and Canarese; wheh In Mahrattl and Cnnarese countries they,talk Telugtu They also have a secret code of words and phrases of their own, and are fcble to converse by signs made with their eyelids and fingers, which are quite inexplicable to outsiders,. . . They rarely resort to any form of violence, relying for success solely" epon their skill, telty, and dexterity, in ..all of which they are pastmasters.

In the days before railways gangs crt. these pickpockets roamed the country, going from fair to fair, despoiling all they could lay -their fingers on. To-day they Infest the railways. Their modus operand! is much like that of the westetn railway thief.

They always carry with them a bag «; bundle, which serves a doable purpose. It ■will contain articles necessary to the carrying out of their schemes* consisting of coloured turbone, coats, a knife, a pair of scissors; a mirror, a chisnl, a tin case of " chnnnam " (a preparation of lime), a. string of beads, some old clothes, and a composition for malting different caste marks on their forehead.

This bog, besides containing the thieves' Implements and disguises, Is often let In exchange' for the richer baggage of a passenger wien Its contents cannot foe conveniently rifled; Tho thieves invariably work at nigiit while the passenger's are asleep. One of the number; spreading a rag over his outstretched body, gives the cover for a confederate to work his way towards a bag under the «scat, " ascertaining, by means of his wonderful sense of touch . whether thefts is anything In it worth ' fllmplttft , ' to employ a thieves' slang expression."

If he is satisfied that the plunder will, be worth the trouble, arid he cannot get his hand Into the bag in the ordinary way, he will draw- out of his mouth the little curved knife which every Bhampta keeps concealed between iila gum and upper-lip, and with this rip np tile seams •of the bag, and so annex the coveted portion of the contents, it the curved knife be too small for his purpose, he will use the iferge knife in his bundle; if a lock has to be forced he win use the chisel.

These rascals are also notorious for committing daring platform robberies.. Their ruse for " spotting" a likely victim, and possessing themselves of 'his traps, is most ingenious. Picking out their man, two men r.truKl one on each, side of him. " One of them will have a small child with him, which he suddenly and severely proceeds to ' spank.' Thereupon the passenger looks round to see what is the matter, and the other thief whips up his bag and makes oil with it."