The cop with a nice turn of phrase

Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose, Bipin Behari Ganguly, Khudiram Bose – these are familiar names from history books that tell the stories of their role in India's freedom struggle. However, there are many more who are forgotten. In a book penned by Supratim Sarkar, whose day job is the additional commissioner, Kolkata Police, the stories of some of these martyrs will be brought to light.

"The book, which will be out on August 15, is a tribute to those freedom fighters. It will also document how the Calcutta Police worked at the time, and how Lalbazar [as Kolkata Police headquarters is generally known] functioned," says Sarkar.

The police officer mentions two of these nationalists – Bina Das and Sushil Sen. Das, he says, was only 21 and a student of Scottish Church College when she shot Stanley Jackson, the then governor of Bengal. "She shot four rounds, missed by a whisker, was caught and tortured. Her revolver and ammunition are still at the Police Museum," Sarkar says.

Then there was Sushil Sen who, at 15, was ordered by Muzzaffarpur magistrate Douglas Kingsford to be caned 15 times because he chanted 'Vande Mataram', and hit the Engligh inspector who caught him by the collar. But each time Sen was caned he repeated 'Vande Mataram'. "We know Khudiram Bose and Prafulla Chaki were to assassinate Kingsford. What many don't know is that Sen was supposed to go and did not because his father was on the death bed and had asked him not to. So Khudiram replaced him," Sarkar asserts.

This won't be the first book that the 46-year-old 1997-batch IPS officer has written. His first, published last year, was Goyenda Peeth Lalbazar: Ek Dojon Khooner Ruddhashwas Nepathyakatha, a compilation of a dozen murder cases culled from 50 years of Kolkata Police case files. Translated into English as Murder in the City, it was one of the best sellers at this year's International Kolkata Book Fair.

Incidentally, Sarkar has also written many jingles for Kolkata Police on topics such as traffic awareness, as well as the lyrics for Kadambari, a film by director Suman Ghosh.

For Sarkar, a history buff, the tryst with writing began with a series called Rohoshyo Robibar (Sunday Mysteries) that he wrote for Kolkata Police's Facebook page. These narratives, taken from the police archives, were an instant hit, with some of them shared over a 1,000 times. So popular was it that hundreds wrote in when it was announced that the series would be discontinued. Under popular demand, Sarkar started a new series, Purano Shei Diner Kotha (Tales From The Past), on not-so-well-known freedom fighters. The present book draws from that series. Sarkar has a pacey and gripping style that made the series popular, especially among youngsters for whom it was history written like a thriller.

But hasn't he been accused of distorting history? Out of the question, says Sarkar, as the narratives are based on authentic documents. "I can't possibly know exactly what someone like Bagha Jatin said on a certain occasion, but one can make out. That's how history is written. I have consulted history professors to verify my facts," he says.

It's been hard, of course, juggling writing with policing, and Sarkar had to compromise on sleep and family to find time for the book. But the result has been worth it, he says.