A moustachioed man in khaki might spring to mind when one thinks of the police, but there is a quieter, more under-appreciated force working behind the scenes to uphold justice. A force made up of ‘specialists’ who are at times undervalued, underpaid and seen as outsiders to the system. Be it evidence collection, crime scene photography or convict counselling, these men and women work tirelessly, often while holding another job, to do their bit to ensure a safer society. THE WEEK profiles five such unsung heroes:
The pencil of justice
On August 22, 2013, five men, including a minor, raped a 22-year-old photojournalist at the abandoned Shakti Mills in Mumbai. Her male colleague, who was with her, promptly reached the N.M. Joshi Marg police station at around 8pm to report the crime. The police began work; around 2:30am that night, they visited a modest home in Kurla to find Nitin Mahadev Yadav, an art teacher known for his exceptional sketching skills. Without a moment of hesitation, the 48-year-old joined the case. In half an hour, he was in a room with the male colleague of the photojournalist, and within three hours, he had sketched two of the suspects.
Extracting details from a traumatised mind is a challenge, but it helped that the witness was a photographer, who was used to observing people. Within 72 hours of the case being registered, the police nabbed all five suspects (another artist, Mohammad Siddique Sheikh, had sketched the other three). The Maharashtra Police later felicitated Yadav for his accurate sketches.
Over the past three decades, Yadav has sketched more than 5,000 suspects, that too without any fee; he considers it a service to the nation. He reckons his sketches have helped crack at least 450 cases. “As a schoolteacher, I have taught many good children, and as a sketch artist, I have assisted in apprehending many spoilt ones,” he says.
As the son of a mill worker living in a slum, Yadav had seen several gang fights as a child. He wanted to be a policeman, but life took him down a different path. “While in class seven, I started sketching and painting to earn some money,” he says. “I made banners, rickshaw number plates, signboards and portraits. After completing school, I went to the JJ School of Art, where I got a diploma in art teaching. [Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader] Raj Thackeray was my college mate.”
When he was in class 10, Yadav was helping the local police station in Kurla by drawing maps and painting nameplates. However, when a murder took place within the jurisdiction of the station and the police had no leads, Yadav stepped in. “I asked to speak with the only witness in the case―a waiter,” he recounts. “It took me around two hours to complete the sketch, and within 48 hours, the suspect was apprehended in Karnataka.”
Since then, Yadav has become an invaluable asset to the police force, getting as many as 20 cases a month from regions across the state.
Usually, suspect descriptions include details such as complexion, height and approximate age. Yadav, however, goes deeper, including aspects like hair length, moustache/beard style, birthmarks, teeth alignment, physical deformities, and even the clothes. He says that, to sketch with accuracy, an artist requires keen observation, knowledge of psychology and interrogative skills, too. On two occasions, he claims to have found through his questioning that the witnesses themselves were the criminals.
All this, of course, makes him quite unpopular with the bad guys. He recalls the murder of lawyer and human rights activist Shahid Azmi, who was shot dead by a group of men. “Based on the description provided by a watchman, I sketched the suspects, and within 48 hours, they were apprehended,” he says. “Following that incident, I started receiving threat calls from a gangster named Bharat Nepali. I told him that even if he were to shoot me, I would find satisfaction in knowing that I helped catch hundreds of criminals like him.”
Yadav was once an orchestra singer, but was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2008. But even while undergoing treatment, he continued his police work.
He lives in Kurla with his wife and two children, leading what he says is a modest and fulfilling life. He continues to teach art and also earns through commissioned art projects. As for his work for the police, the only reward, he says, is the satisfaction he gets from making the world a safer place.
A CHANGE I WOULD LIKE TO SEE
“The accuracy of sketches police personnel create solely through software is significantly lower compared with the manual approach. Creating facial sketches requires a unique blend of skills, including psychological understanding. Perhaps police forces should consider making officers who can draw train with experienced artists to build a formidable army of sketch artists.”