Calcutta story from the Raj days.
Sir Stuart Hogg (of New Market fame)

Commissioner arrests himself!

Sir Stuart Hogg stares at the piece of paper in his hand, astounded beyond words. The formidable Commissioner of Police, Calcutta, truly cannot decide what to do. Should he laugh? Cry? Who on earth can possibly know what he is going through? Has anyone ever had to arrest himself before?

Indeed, his predicament is unprecedented in the annals of the Calcutta Police. The annals of the country, come to think of it. Unprecedented, unthinkable. Here's the story then, as it happened.

An accomplished student, Sir Stuart Saunders Hogg spent most of his educational career at Eton College. Having joined the Bengal Civil Service, he arrived in India in 1853 to begin a distinguished career that saw him adorn several important positions.

Able administrator that he was, Hogg was equally famed as a generous, compassionate man who, as district magistrate of Bardhaman, opened the doors of his spacious office-cum-residence to the starving populace during the famine of 1865-66. To the thousands of people whose lives he saved, he was nothing less than a God.

As a reward for his undoubtedly superior administrative skills, the British government rewarded Hogg with two important postings when he moved to Calcutta in mid-1866. At one go, he became both the Commissioner of Police and Chairman of the Calcutta Corporation. Half his day was spent at Lalbazar, the other half at 4, Janbazar Street (which later became Corporation Street and still later, S.N. Banerjee Road), the Corporation headquarters.

A career as chequered as his was understandably peppered with milestones, two of which merit a mention here. As Chairman of the Corporation, he set up a market that has become an integral part of our city's history. Initially known as ‘Hogg Market' following a decision by Lord Curzon to name it after its founder, the legendary institution is familiar to modern day citizens, of course, as ‘New Market'.

And as Commissioner of Police, Hogg will be forever remembered as the creator of the famed Detective Department, founded on November 28, 1868, vide Commissioner's Order No. 149.

Farsighted as he was, his study of the nature of crime in Calcutta led Hogg to the realisation that the police force needed a dedicated crime control division. The catalyst for that idea was a sensational murder that occurred in the Amherst Street police station area on April 1, 1868. The victim was a young Anglo-Indian woman called Rose Brown. Entrusted with the investigation, an officer named Richard Reid acquired overnight fame when he cracked the case and is today acknowledged as the first ‘detective' of the Calcutta Police. In his book ‘Everyman his Own Detective', based on the Rose Brown murder case, Reid paid handsome tribute to Hogg.

To return to the story we started out with, the one about the Commissioner arresting himself, Hogg is on his way back to Calcutta from a vacation in London, when he misplaces a piece of his luggage. His department is naturally in turmoil – imagine the Commissioner's luggage being misplaced or, horror of horrors, stolen! All over India, the police swing into action in their attempts to locate the missing item.

Finally, the missing bit of luggage surfaces in Allahabad and the local Magistrate issues a summons in Hogg's name. More properly, in the name of the Chairman of Calcutta Corporation, asking him to travel to Allahabad, identify the missing case as his in court, and take it back.

Burdened by his immense workload and twin responsibilities, Hogg simply cannot make time to travel all the way to Allahabad and fails to appear before the Magistrate. Incensed at his absence, the latter immediately issues an order, to ‘Commissioner Hogg' this time, asking him to arrest ‘Chairman Hogg' and present him before the Magistrate.

Receiving his copy of the order, Hogg is reduced to speechlessness. How bizarre can a situation be? Has anyone ever faced such a dilemma? How can a man be ordered to arrest himself? Who has heard of such a thing?

However, disobeying a court order amounts to contempt of court, and so Sir Stuart Hogg does the unthinkable. As Commissioner of Police, he issues a warrant for the arrest of the Chairman of Calcutta Corporation, and then sets off for Allahabad, having ‘arrested himself', presumably. Needless to say nobody misses the humour in the situation, and the ‘Hindu Patriot' does a detailed, amusing piece on the entire incident in 1871.

Ultimately, Hogg does make a face-saving appearance in court, though the ending isn't entirely happy. The still annoyed Magistrate issues clear orders that not a penny of Hogg's expenses will be borne by the government. So Kolkata's redoubtable Commissioner and Chairman has to finance the entire process of ‘arresting himself', and then ‘escorting himself' to another city.

Destiny must have had quite a laugh!