NEW DELHI: He didn't pause to see what train it was. Next day, 18-year-old Rahul (name changed) got off at a platform in Delhi. His Gujarat home left far behind, the teen thought he had made a break from all his troubles. Here, nobody knew he had failed his Class X exams, he saw possibilities everywhere. But when he dipped a hand into his pocket, he met reality.
Hunger drove him to despair, and then desperation. He chanced upon a toy pistol, and used it to commandeer a Honda SUV driven by a woman outside India Habitat Centre. He forced the woman to keep driving while he robbed her of her valuables, and then jumped out and fled. The case caused quite a stir in 2008.
The surly rebel was now a scared criminal. He went back the way he came, huddled in a train compartment. But he had left behind a clue in the Honda, a visiting card from an acquaintance back home. Inspector Rajender Singh's eyes didn't miss it. Before long, a police team had reached his hometown, and door-to-door investigation led cops to Rahul's hideout near Ahmedabad. He was held and brought to Delhi.
That's where Rahul's transformation into a hardened criminal would have started. But the investigators felt he was not a "bad one". He helped police recover the robbed property, and they went easy on him. He was sent to 12 days' judicial custody, and then released on bail.
Rahul now really had a chance to make a fresh start at home, but he decided to "hang around" the Lodhi Colony police station. His parents, who were overwhelmed by police's support in the case, also requested that their boy be allowed to stay, and Rahul became a part of the police station's life.
Around the same time, Inspector Singh caught Devinder Singh a.k.a. "super chor" Bunty, who, like Rahul, sought his help to reform himself. Bunty, the more flamboyant of the two, soon found fame by acting in a reality show and giving interviews. Bollywood patted him with a biopic, Oye Lucky, Lucky Oye, and Bunty next opened a detective agency in west Delhi. He really seemed to have made it then while Rahul seemed content to help his benefactors in the background.
Rahul drove police vehicles, and helped cops decoy criminals. He even helped investigate a case of burglary in Safdarjung. He did odd jobs at private companies and also found work at IHC.
Five years later, both are "wanted", but in different ways. Rahul, now 24, helps police in raids and getting information. He's also worked on himself - speaks fluent English, can type, works out, and bartends at clubs. His e-mail ID ends in 007, and secretly he wants to become a police officer.
Bunty, though, has returned to crime. On January 20, he stole a Maruti Esteem and drove it to Kerala. Then he broke into an NRI businessman's house and drove away with his Mitsubishi Outlander, laptops and other valuables.
"Reformation for Bunty was much easier," an officer said, "but now he is striking not for gain but fame". About Rahul, DCP south Chhaya Sharma said, "He is an example for many who want to reform. The police is with them. We ensure that a life does not get derailed after a mistake".
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