The police constable, Adhiraj Chandrakar, stopped typing in the computer and looked up to find a man and a woman standing in front.
Mr Chandrakar waited a few seconds for one of them to start speaking, but there were no words spoken, so he spoke, “Can you both speak?”
“Yes,” said the girl Drishti, “my smartphone got stolen”
Mr Chandrakar opened the drawer, took out a blank paper and handed it to Drishti, “Write what happened here, date, time and location of the theft and how the theft happened.”
Mr Chandrakar went back to his work but felt that the two had not moved and looked up.
“Sir, if we could get a pen,” said the boy Hemant
“Why don’t people carry a pen nowadays,” said a visibly irritated Mr Chandrakar as reached for a pen on his table and handed it to Hemant.
The two were back after a while and as Drishti handed Mr Chandrakar the piece of paper with the information Mr Chandrakar looked at Hemant and asked Drishti, “husband?”
“No Sir,” replied Drishti, “he is my brother”
Mr Chandrakar wore his spectacles and went through what was written and then he looked up, “you have written your smartphone had been snatched by the same person.”
“Yes sir,” said Drishti
“At the same place?”
“No, the first time it was near my home”
“You live nearby?” asked Mr Chandrakar
“No, I live in another city. I am here to visit my relatives here,” replied Drishti
“Are you sure it was the same person who stole the phone?” asked Mr Chandrakar
“Yes sir, that is what I wrote”
“So, this person, the thief was in this city at the same time that you were here and somehow, he managed to target you again and steal your phone. Is that what you are saying?” asked Mr Chandrakar
Drishti looked at her brother and then back at Mr Chandrakar and said, “Yes, that is what happened.”
“Do you take me for a fool?” asked Mr Chandrakar in an angry tone, “I know some of you people out there don’t think much of us and rather think of yourselves to be the smart ones, but this?”
Drishti composed herself and said, “this is what happened”
“You have clearly made a mistake. But since the phone was actually stolen, we will try and find it,” said Mr Chandrakar
Drishti, not completely satisfied with the answer, quietly stepped out of the police station with her brother, only to see the same man passing by on a bike. She stood and watched but didn’t try to go back inside and tell.
Written by Anuran Chatterji
A Theft
Early Morning Memories 