KP narrates first ‘white-collar crime’ case of city

Kolkata: The Kolkata Police narrated the first white collar crime in Kolkata which dates back to the 1880s. Recently on its social media page, Kolkata Police shared the first case of theft that was registered with the city police back in 1886.

On October 18 morning in 1886, manager of a singer sewing machine company outlet in Dalhousie, Warner arrived at the Waterloo Street Police Station with a complaint of a burglary that had taken place in his shop during the weekend.

Warner told the police that on Monday morning (October 18), he found that the special lock which fastened the main doors was open, and discovered that his office drawer had been ransacked.

He also provided a list of gold and silver ornaments, along with money, that were stolen from the drawer, and claimed their total value was not less than Rs 6,000. He even accused three junior employees of the company of the theft.

After commencing the investigation, police agreed that it must have been an inside job as there was no evidence of anyone having tampered with the lock, but they also found that the only way the lock could have been opened was with the special key which is in Warner’s possession.

After coming to the conclusion, when a case was registered against him on charges of criminal breach of trust amounting to Rs 48,894, Warner had fled Calcutta the previous night. The police later tracked one of the stolen gold bangles from a European prostitute in Kalinga Bazar in the New Market area, and she had confessed to having received it as a gift from Warner.

She also revealed that Warner had sent a parcel containing more ornaments to his mother in Bombay. After about a year of this crime, Warner was traced in Rangoon (now Yangon). After he was arrested, Warner was sentenced to four years’ rigorous imprisonment.