To Give Fear a Face

A framed photograph looms large in the small 600 sq feet house. It shows Yadav accepting an award presented by Mumbai police commissioner,Dr Satyapal Singh for his contribution in catching two of the four accused in the Mumbai Shakti Mills gang rape. I was woken up at 2.30 in the morning by an urgent phone call, says the 48-year-old artist. Yadav worked through the night,sketching faces of the accused as described by the photojournalist; sketches that were splashed across every newspaper and news channel across the country for the next 12 hours,and which led to the speedy capture of the rapists.

It wasnt easy,the case received national attention,but Yadav remained unfazed. At the end of the day,you just have to do your job, he says.Yadav was good at drawing as a child,but he never imagined using his talent for solving crimes. He studied Fine Art at JJ School of Art in Mumbai and years later,found employment as an art teacher in a primary school. But his first assignment came quite by chance.While painting the nameplate of a police officer at the Kurla station,I overheard the officers talk about a robbery, recalls Yadav. The police had only one lead: a petrified eye witness. Yadav struck upon an idea. Wed studied anatomy in college,so I suggested that the witness describe the criminal,and I could try to sketch him, he explains. Every witnesss subconscious mind has already recorded an image,even if they just caught a glimpse of the criminal.

Its our job to bring that image into focus, says Yadav.

Yadav is not the only sketch artist who freelances with the police on a regular basis. In another part of the city,artist Chandrakala Kadam,54,brings out a battered old file,from which the faces of nearly 100 criminals stare back at her. She has a sketch copy of every criminal she has helped nab.There is also an occasional photo attached that shows the sketches drawn with chilling accuracy. Kadam has been sketching for the police for two decades. There is no formal training,you learn on the job. Witnesses are terrified of saying something that will be held against them, says Kadam. Here,a sketch artist steps in,acting as a middleman and a less intimidating voice.

Once the witnesses fear fades,they almost draw the sketch themselves,says Kadam. They clarify,No the face was thinner,the eyes were sharper,and he was chewing tobacco,so the lips appeared fatter, she explains. I begin by asking the witness which celebrity the criminal resembles: Is there a film star who looked like him? Or a sportsman? It gives me a template to work with, says Kadam.

Over the years,Yadav has developed a concise technique. He brings out a book he calls his software manual. In it,he has drawn pairs of eyes,noses,ears,lips,moustaches and hair patterns. Instead of starting from scratch,Yadav asks the witness to pick out the features that match the criminal. Once I have a basic idea,I work on the sketch. Because of this book,it only takes 30 minutes, he says. Apart from the book,Yadav has other tricks that work for him. He asks the witnesses to mimic the criminal,and automatically their features align to imitate the man. Their eyes become narrower,lips come closer,neck becomes straighter its a surprisingly accurate method, he says.

It is not the easiest job in the world and definitely not the safest. Kadam was initially hesitant to provide her real name and photograph. Yadav says that he is frequently asked whether he feels scared or threatened. Similarly,artist Sudhakar Kalgutkar has never given an interview before,always choosing to remain anonymous.

The nature of the job is as risky as it is exciting. Were woken up at odd hours and taken away in a police jeep,with no idea where were going or when well return, says Kalgutkar. Since my first case 20 years ago,I feel like Im always on call. Unless it is a very high profile case,the artists arent informed if the culprit is caught. The sketch artists receive minimum payment,if at all they get paid.

But they dont expect to make money out of it,as theyve realised that the police need them badly. Having worked closely with Yadav when stationed at the Kurla station,police inspector,crime branch,Dnyaneshwar Wagh says that the work that sketch artists do is unbelievable. Almost 80 per cent of their skill is their intuition,and the sketch is always accurate,even if a witness is unsure of the descriptions. Wagh sees the artists as an inseparable part of the police unit. They are expected to be on call 24215;7. Despite the long and odd hours,the artists never once complain, he says.

There is something about crime detection that Kalgutkar finds exhilarating. Raised by a policeman father,he was always captivated by crime novels and detective stories. He describes one of his previous cases like a murder mystery. There was a triple murder case in 2002. A shop owners wife and kids were murdered. There had been only one visitor in the afternoon,who asked an old lady for directions to the house, Kalgutkar narrates. When I arrived at the crime scene,she had been under interrogation for hours and had completely blanked out, he recalls. It was one of the longest nights of his life as Kalgutkar patiently got the woman to recall the face of the suspect. We finally had a rough sketch and showed it to the husband who recognised the killer as the servant,who was immediately arrested.

Like Kalgutkar,Yadav too has played Sherlock in a couple of cases. In one case,I realised that the descriptions given by the witness were too accurate,almost rehearsed, says Yadav. Suspicious,Yadav gradually realised that he was talking to the murderer,not the witness. I was alone in the room with him,and had to be very careful, Yadav says. He continued with his line of questioning. If you were dragged across the floor,why is there mud on your front? Was the attacker left-handed or right-handed? Yadav caught the witness in a web of questions,silently cornering him to a point where he broke down and confessed to the crime.

There is a fierce sense of pride when the artists talk about their work. Theyve seen crime and terror in all shapes and sizes,yet there is unmistakable optimism in their voices. I believe weve managed to induce fear in criminals. They should know that even if no one is watching,someone will sit for hours with a blank paper and a pencil till they get your face right. They cannot get away. I hope that scares them, says Yadav.