I was on a 19 days tour of south/coastal Karnataka and also parts of Tamil Nadu (read Ooty, Chennai). I as using public transport buses and was trying to get into into a bus with a huge waiting crowd at Belur. I succeeded in that herculian task, but only when I was in the bus, I realized the lightness of my pocket from which my dear wallet had been taken away without my cognizance. I got down and became a spectatcle when people got to know that I was conned. I tried and tried to talk to them but due to language problem cudn't establish any meaningful dialogue. Hence, I went across the road to the police station where, in order to file an FIR, I was told to write an application in a specific manner, which essentually meant writing that "my wallet was missing" (and not that my pocket was picked")! Immediately after I could establish some kinda communication with the inspector in english and after writing my application, a guy was brought handcuffed and they started beatin' the hell outta him. But he wouldn't speak. I thought some criminial he must be. As I tried excusing myself after filing the FIR, inspector stopped me and said "wait! this guy we caught is for your case!" Now I was amazed at the efficiency of the police. The guy was beaten more and still he wouldn't speak. Since it was gettin' dark and I didn't know anyone there or even the local language (kannada), I told inspector that I was leaving and that he inform me later whenever something positive comes up. When I reached the bus stand, people told me somehow in broken hindi/english that the accused (the guy police caught) is actually the culprit and that if I dont demand hard enough, police will share the booty with him. I didn't care though, as I wanted to get the hell outta there and reach Dharmasthala. Apart from cash, most valuable item in my wallet was a dollar denominated credit card given by my bro, who I informed about the incident and he took care of
it.
