One, A Few days ago Reuter telegraphed the report of an outrage by dacoits in a suburb of Calcutta, when the local postmaster was shot dead. To those of us unfamiliar with conditions in India the word dacoit has an ugly sound, and in the circumstances it was perfectly natural to attach a very great deal of significance to the telegram, even to the extent of fearing a recrudescence on a considerable scale of the dacoity evil in the country. Since the publication of the news, however, no hint of the kind has been forthcoming, and it seems safe to assume that beyond the unfortunate fact of the postmaster being killed the incident was in no sense out of the ordinary. The fact of the matter is that dacoities take place week in and week out in the Calcutta district, and except for the fact that the number of men taking part must be over five they hardly differ from the armed robberies with which we are familiar here. Probably the greatest differences are in the determination with which they are carried out, and because at times they are of a purely political character. The records of the Indian police are full of these dacoit outrages, and at times they have been a grave menace to whole districts.
Particular features of the dacoity evil are of a sufficiently striking nature to warrant a few notes on the subject. Calcutta, as has been already noted, - has always been a happy hunting ground for the dacoits. Having come down from the north for trading purposes, Punjabis and Pathans of an adventurous disposition have often decided that the profits of their trip might be enhanced by a resort to armed robbery, and have taken a hand in the business, doubtless re-"turning hot-foot to their native districts once their enterprise has been carried through. The professional dacoit has, however, provided a more serious and difficult task for the authorities, and just before the war the situation in Calcutta itself was of an extraordinary character. The cinematographs had been showing pictures of motor-car bandits at work, and the idea quickly appealed to the dacoit fraternity. Then followed a spell of the most daring robberies carried out with the aid of motor-cars,. and ultimately a very interesting device had to be adopted.. The city was divided up into districts and practically every street in the areas favoured by the dacoits was provided with a portcullis. Then, the moment a motor dacoity was announced, district after district in which it was possible that the car might be travelling was isolated by the dropping of these portcullises. A cordon having thus been established, the police were successful on many occasions in running down the dacoits. By this means the evil Was appreciably curbed, although fo-day cases still occur of motor-car dacoities.
One of the amazing things noted in the history of dacoity is that some time before the war a band, forty or fifty strong, was led by a renegade white man who' had had some military training. What happened to him in the final event we are unable to say, but the fact of his having been at the head of the band gives a good indication of the lengths to which the dacoits are prepared to go in the matter of organizing their raids. A very serious state of affairs occurred in the months succeeding the outbreak of the European war, when on the Beluchistan and Afghan frontiers the evil became rampant to an extent previously unknown. It was purely a war phase, but it gives an excellent indication of how valuable to the Empire was the work of the Indian police during these times.. Night after night the dacoits swooped down
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.