Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1884-07-03
The Poisoner Of Ninety.six Victims.

To those who believe that the prac-
tice of Thuggee has been completely
put down in India, the story of Sharfu,
whose career of crime has just termi-
mated by his being sentenced to trans
portation for life, will come as an I'M
pleasant revelation. Sharfu was the
son of butcher in small village in
the Punjab, and when yet boy he de-
veloped marked taste not only for
gambling but even for card sharping.
At the age of Is, having quarreled
with his father, he left his native vii
lage and attached himself to party OF
horse-dealers. He then joined the Bar
eilly police, but was shortly afterward
sentenced to fifteen months imprison-
ment for injuring his wife, the daughter
of Thakur, whom he had abducted. In
the Bareilly Jail he came into contact
with Tikka Ram, the head of band OF
prisoners in the northwest provinces.
On their recovering their liberty they
resumed operations together, making
their headquarters in the town of Agra.
After six years work of undetected
crime, Of which the details have not
been revealed, the two fell out, and
Sharfu joined the police force again,
only, however. to be dismissed in a few
months.
1t was after this occurrence that he
resumed his operations as professional
poisoner on his own account. His mode
Of working was simple Disgusting him
self as q well-to-do native of Dude, he
used to waylay and enter into CONVEX
sation with those natives of the prov.
ince who happened to be returning with
their savings. His favorite scene OF
operations was on the Grand Trunk
road. Once he had struck up a com.
partnership with these unsuspecting
travellers it was an easy matter for him
to take food with them, and Sharfu
rarely failed to introduce the opium or
dhatura needed to drug his victims,
whom he speedily relieved of their saw.
ings. Most of these unwary persons
recovered when pursuit was useless but
many of them died. His operations be-
tween the years 1867 and 1872 were
particularly numerous and successful,
and official reports recognized the ex-
tent to which Thuggee prevailed in the
Puniab during that period. In July,
1881, his secret was revealed by Tikka
Rams wife, with whom he had been
living for fourteen years, and he had
only just sufficient warning to make q
hurried retreat into Rajpootana. There
he renewed his old practices and placed
his services at the disposal of those who
had inconvenient relatives to get rid of,
and who would pay handsomely for
the dangerous work. He long baffied
the pursuit of the officials, and it was
not until the present year that he was
discovered through the instrumentality
of Tikka Ram, undergoing a short term
of imprisonment in the Agra Jail under
different name.
Brought up for trial at Loodiana he
admitted his guilt in ninety-six cases OF
murder or drugging, and was sentenced
to death, which was afterward modified
to transportation for life. Sharfu's
long impunity shows the great difficulty
of detecting crime in India, at the same
time that it reveals the extensive organ
ization which criminals have formed, in
the PunJab at all events. Much light
has recently been thrown by DIR. Lett
ner on the argot which thieves In the
Punjab have framed for their own use,
and of which Government officials are
absolutely ignorant. London Times.