N. Francis Xavier
Part VI,(Continued from last week)
Colonel Cadell stood on Viper jetty, stopwatch in hand.
He had ordered for a mock re-enactment of the escape to calculate the time taken by Hemraj and party to break out.
A boat similar to the one taken by the runaways was moored alongside the jetty.
A warder blew a shrill blast on his whistle. Chosen convicts and Jemadars sprang into action and re-enacted what Hemraj and others did on the 9th, under the watchful eyes of Cadell.
Cadell saw that it took nine minutes from the time the sentry was struck to the time the first boat left in pursuit — sufficient time for a well-trained crew to take a whaler far out to sea.
The sepoy of the 23rd Madras Native Infantry Battalion, who was fishing on the jetty when the incident took place was summoned before Cadell.
Shivering with fright he told Cadell that he too grappled with the convicts and tried to save the sentry. He showed a slight scratch on the wrist as proof. But he had no answer as to why he did not run and report the matter to the guard room immediately.
Cadell hoped the boat foundered in the gale, killing all on board.
He had personally supervised two floggings that day, which gave him immense satisfaction.
The mock drill was meant to fill in his report with facts and figures. He wanted to show how the guards responded with alacrity to the siren, and how the desperadoes could have been intercepted had there been a telegraph line between Viper and Ross.
Cadell wanted a system of identity cards for the convicts also. Photography was prohibitively expensive and a painstakingly long process. But some companies in Calcutta have already submitted expressions of interest. Having photographic record of the convicts would make their arrest easier in case they escape. Mr. Portman himself was an expert photographer. He was preparing a portfolio on the aborigines which he planned to sell to some museum once he goes back to Europe.
Soon after the drill Cadell got into his cutter and returned to Ross Island. He entered the comfortable drawing room of Government House. On the wall was a framed photograph of Queen Victoria, the Empress of India. Some photographs of the Andamanese aborigines were also displayed on the walls.
Sitting in his favorite chair, while a convict servant fanned him Cadell opened a thick file with the legend “ESCAPES” stenciled on its flap. He had asked Maj Protheroe to flag some escapes from the settlement which may throw light on the route Hemraj might take.
The case of Boodhan Munder attracted his attention.
Boodhan was convicted for murder and sentenced to transportation for life in 1866.
Cadell read with interest how Boodhan escaped from Andamans in 1868 and was recaptured by the Ludhiana Police on 1st September 1876.
The report of his escape had been sent to Ludhiana, his hometown. A fat reward was announced for his capture. Two policemen, Head Constable III grade Beni Prasad and Constable III Grade Shiv SahaiSingh were entrusted the job. The constables, through their network of informers came to know that Boodhan was living at Lungdee in Nepal. They travelled to the princely state of Darbhanga, bordering Nepal. They knew that they did not have powers to arrest anyone in the Kingdom of Nepal.
It was believed that many former mutineers and even princes, who opposed the British during the 1857 Uprising were living incognito in Nepal, under royal protection.
Beni Prasad and Shiv Sahai hatched a plan to induce Boodhan to cross over into British Indian territory where they could arrest him. A message was delivered to Boodhan that his nephew Laxmanaia Mouzal was waiting for him on the other side.
Unaware of the trap that was laid for him Boodhan crossed the border and was immediately arrested by the constables, in full view of his friends and relatives on the Nepalese side. The policemen quickly spirited him away and handed him over to Mr. C Jennings, the District Superintendent of Police of Darbhanga.
Angry and helpless, Boodhan’s relatives protested to the Nepalese police at Jaileswar. His nephew lodged a complaint that his uncle was captured in Nepalese territory by the Indian police, while he was going to the Kutchery.
An enquiry was conducted and Jennings confirmed that the arrest was made on Indian soil. Boodhan was brought back to Port Blair to serve the rest of his sentence, after living as a free man in Nepal for eight years.
Similar was the case of Gopal Mulla, a life convict who escaped from Port Blair in 1871. He was known to be residing across the border but could not be induced to cross into the British territory. At last, constables Chatterdhari Singh and Gokhool Singh used a man named Mohur Mulla, a Nepali, to induce him to come over to do some work on Indian territory. He was nabbed as soon as he crossed over and brought back to Port Blair, five years after his escape.
Cadell understood that Nepal served as a safe haven for most of the convicts who escaped from Andamans. He would lay a trap for them there, bring them back to Port Blair, and hang them.
Elated, Cadell rang the bell. A liveried servant appeared. “Bring in the whisky”, Cadell told him. ( to be continued -)