JAIPUR: The theft of over three dozen donkeys has become a huge headache for the police in Rajasthan’s Hanumangarh district. As a result, instead of criminals, the local police is now searching for the donkeys in villages and hamlets across Hanumangarh.
In the canal area, donkey owners often carry goods and soil on donkeys whenever needed and later leave the donkeys are left to graze in the open. A few days ago, the asses went astray and disappeared. Some wise folks in the area advised the donkey owners to report the matter to the police and seek their help in finding the donkeys. Ever since the police have been in trouble.
This bizarre case has come to the fore in the Khuiyan police station area of the district. It is being said that around forty donkeys were missing at different times over the last few days. Donkey owners filed a theft complaint but initially, the police did not pay heed to their complaint. Angry with the attitude of the police, the local CPI(M) workers and the owners of the donkeys, staged a dharna at the police station on Tuesday. After their demonstration, the cops somehow brought 15 donkeys to the police station till Tuesday night and asked the owners to take their donkeys.
Soon the donkey owners started calling the donkeys by their pet names. The police were surprised to see the donkeys being called by names but later the owners confirmed that their donkeys respond to specific names only. But when none of the donkeys responded, the owners said that these are not our donkeys and refused to take the asses brought by the police.
Meanwhile, the police say that the donkeys are lost due to the carelessness of their owners and argue that now it is very difficult to identify them. In charge of the Khuiyan police station, Vijyendra Sharma said that it is proving to be extremely difficult to find the donkeys as all the asses look just the same.
"The police brought 15 donkeys from the area of our police station, the owners had named their donkeys as Chintu Pintu , Bablu, Kallu, etc., but the donkeys didn't respond to the names and they have not put any mark on the donkeys so it is very tough to look for the donkeys," said Sharma.
The police, however, are unable to make the protesters understand how tough it is to locate the misses asses without any marks on them. On the other hand, donkey owners are angry and say that their means of livelihood has ended after the donkeys were stolen. They argue that only their donkeys understand their commands and it is difficult to get other donkeys to their work of carrying the burden. In such a strange situation, they want the police to recover their donkeys and hand them over to their owners.
The police say that some local leaders are pressurizing the police to support the donkey owners to make political gains because of their upcoming elections. In this curious situation, the police are busy searching for the donkeys leaving their work on serious crimes like 302, 307, NDPS. The Police say that neither the possible thieves nor the real and wanted donkeys are being found.
"To find the donkeys, we have formed a team of 4 -5 people. The team is searching for donkeys from village to village. The team is going to all surrounding villages and special announcements are being made to seek people’s help to locate the missing donkeys." Added Sharma
Donkey owners and CPI(M) workers have given a warning to the police that if the donkeys are not found, they will begin an agitation. Police say that even if he leaves all the work and brings donkeys, what is the guarantee that the donkey owners will again call them Chintu, Pintu and the donkeys will react. Overall, this has become an issue of much humour for local people but a lot of trouble for the Khuiyan police.