Villagers patrol to battle for cattle

With the bonfire crackling in the background, 10 men 8212; some as young as 17 and some, like Ram, past retirement 8212; look like they mean business. In traditional kurta pyjamas, the group is armed with sticks, crowbars and whistles. Led by Ram, these men in the village bordering Haryana 8212; the border is less than 10 kilometres 8212; patrol the length and breadth of the village from 10 pm to 4 am.

Called thikri phera, it8217;s a practice, incidentally, dating back to the days of the Raj. 8220;Back then, the village chowkidaars would place a pot, in which all able-bodied men put rocks on which their names were written. These rocks were called thikris,8221; says DCP south-west Shalini Singh.

But for the villagers here, all that might as well be textbook stuff. They began thikri phera some eight months ago in collaboration with the Jafferpur Kalan police due to a simple reason: buffalo thefts. Village head Satish Tyagi says the locality saw several incidents of buffalo thefts last year 8212; that is, 2007. With a buffalo coming for 8220;at least Rs 75,0008221;, the villagers, primarily dependent on farming, had little option but to take up their own patrolling. 8220;The assailants stole buffaloes in the dead of night and fled across the border to Haryana, which is just 8 kilometres from here,8221; Tyagi says.

And they have met with some success, villagers say in unison. In December, the residents woke up to the cry of three buffaloes. They gave a chase with the cops posted in the village and recovered the buffaloes; the thieves, though, managed to vanish in the fields.

Jafferpur Kalan Police Station House Officer SHO Rajbir Singh says crime rate in the area has dipped drastically. Primarily a result of the thikri phera. 8220;Before the villagers took up patrolling, theft cases of transformers, lines, buffaloes and so forth were commonly reported,8221; SHO Singh says. 8220;Now, no incidents are reported from this village.8221;

Police records show 211 FIRs were registered in Jafferpur Kalan in 2006 8211; 25 per cent of these came from Shikarpur village. In 2007, after thikri phera began, 200 FIRs were registered. Complaints from this village? Zero.

Singh says the police educate the locals off and on. 8220;We sensitise them to not indulge in violence. If they spot a suspicious person, they can question him and demand identification papers.

On the beat: How it works

The village has four exit points, with a team of eight to ten men at each point. The moment a whistle is sounded, the groups advance to the next point, with members stomping the ground with sticks. This way, all four groups cover the four exit points in the village, ex-constable Sharma Ram says. The village head, head says, maintains a register for volunteers. It has over 200 names, and around 40 are called for duty on any given night. 8220;If anyone fails to report, he has to pay a fine of Rs 100,8221; village head Tyagi says. Thikri phera is practiced in many villages of south-west, north and north-west Delhi. Police officials say it has helped bring down crime rates.