The Myth of the 'Private Detective' in Bengali Crime Literature

Ritam Basu
M.A. (English) 2nd Year, University of Calcutta

Keywords: Private Detectives, Bengali Crime Literature, C. Auguste Dupin, Byomkesh,

Deductive Logic, Police
ABSTRACT: The penchant for crime literature runs deep in the bloodstream of the Bengali
masses, so much so that the best-selling books in the language have always been those that
concern the adventures of the now iconic sleuths, or are hardboiled whodunits. The genre itself
enjoys massive fandom in probably every corner of the world, but its canonization in the Bengali
culture owes heavily to its rich tradition of indigenous sleuth stories crafted meticulously along
the lines of their Western prototypes and their adaptation into other media such as cinema, radio
and television. The present paper discusses whether the concept of a ‘private detective', as
popularized by fiction, is a myth or reality, and whether their investigation procedures bear any
affinity with those employed by the official detective agencies.

I. INTRODUCTION
While crime fiction has been a fan favorite genre over the past one-and-a-half centuries, there are
myriad opinions among scholars regarding its genesis. Although the genre is a mid-nineteenth
century invention, elements of crime writing are evident in a text as ancient as the One Thousand
and One Nights (circa 10 century AD), in a tale later translated into English as "The Three
Apples". On the other hand, some literary historians like Ousbe consider the puzzle tales of the
Enlightenment such as Voltaire's Zadic (1747) as the genre's true precursors, since they evince
traces of the logical deduction method, which was to later become the hallmark of this genre.
However, despite all their differences, most scholars agree that the sub-genre of detective fiction,
as is known today, was first brought to life by Edgar Allan Poe whose "tales of ratiocination"
laid the foundation for an enduring legacy. Poe's fictional detective C. Auguste Dupin, who
appears in three short narratives beginning with The Murders in the Rue Morgue (1841), set the
template for the so-called private investigator who uses deductive logic and the theory of
elimination to solve cases. Also, it was around this time that detective departments began to co-
exist with regular police forces in Europe, which probably explains the sudden boom in the
production of such stories in the continent. Endowed with astounding observational acumen,
Dupin is more of a cerebral detective, who's able to read the minds of others, including his
companion (the unnamed narrator) and criminals alike.
Following Poe's precedent, a number of canonical works came into being in the subsequent
years featuring methodical, scientific-minded sleuths like Emile Gaboriau's Monsieur Lecoq, Sir
Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes, G.K. Chesterton's Father Brown, Agatha Christie's
Hercule Poirot and Dorothy Sayers' Lord Wimsey.
Another interesting trait exhibited by Dupin and later inherited by almost all his successors in the
genre is a veritable contempt for the police. Since Calcutta was the capital of British India until
the first decade of the twentieth century, the genre of crime literature was cordially embraced by
a score of writers writing in their own native Bengali language, but with an Eurocentric
viewpoint. The following section briefly discusses the evolution of the genre in Bengal and how
the writers have consciously emulated their Western antecedents, especially as regards their
sleuths' capricious relationship with the police.

II. DISCUSSION
Notwithstanding the private detectives' frictional relationship with police officers, the first
notable detective fiction series in Bengali was ironically written by an employee with the
detective department of Calcutta Police between 1878 and 1911. Priyanath Mukhopadhyay's
Darogar Daftor comprises 206 stories and overtly eulogizes the imperial administration, while
depicting the Indians as uncouth, criminal-minded and dangerous to the society. Mukhopadhyay
received several honors and titles from the British during his service tenure, so it's not difficult to
guess on which side his allegiance lay.
The anti-colonized perspective exemplified by Mukhopadhyay continued for some more time
with Girish Chandra Basu's Shekaler Daroga Kahini and Kaliprashanna Chattopadhyay's
Bankaullar Daftor written chiefly to placate their white readers.
It was not before Saradindu Bandyopadhyay produced his Byomkesh Bakshi stories that Bengali
crime fiction could extricate itself from the overbearing influence of the West. When we meet
Byomkesh for the first time in Satyanweshi (1932), he's fresh out of college and brimming with
ambition to become a 'satyanweshi" (truth seeker). Byomkesh refuses to carry the label of
'detective', fits the image of the quintessential Bengali bhodrolok, albeit being a lot smarter than
the average Bengali populace, and sympathizes with the downtrodden and marginalized. Yet,
Saradindu injects his sleuth with various genre tropes of the Western tradition like application of
deductive logic, proficiency in taking disguise and most importantly, disdain for the police.
Bidhubabu, a police officer appearing several times in the series, is described in buffoonish
terms, akin to Herge's Thomson and Thompson, and is shown to be jealous of Byomkesh's
success and dismissive of his own incompetence in cracking cases.
The larger-than-life portrayal of the detectives relies heavily on their physical appearances and
superhuman skillsets. Dr Nihar Ranjan Gupta's Kiriti Roy is consciously etched along Holmesian
lines. He's 6.5 feet tall, smokes a pipe, prefers wearing the outlandish kimono and tatami
slippers, and is essentially an Anglophile. Satyajit Ray's P.C. Mitter alias Feluda combines the
best of both worlds. He's the perfect embodiment of the boy-next-door image, yet is a goldmine
of knowledge, tall and handsome, loves his yoga, can chase criminals, use his Colt .32 revolver
when needed, and decipher hieroglyphics. Then there are Sunil Gangopadhyay's Kakababu and
Sasthipada Chattopadhyay's Pandav Goyenda stories that incline more towards the adventure
aspect, whereas Samaresh Majumdar's Arjun and Syed Mustafa Siraj's Colonel, despite working
in close association with the police, do not follow the modus operandi used by official detectives.
The police personnel in majority of these stories are merely yardsticks by which readers can
gauge the sleuths' expertise. They are mostly caricatures, often depicted as corrupt, with very
little or no attempt having been made to individualize them.
Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay's Shabor Dasgupta is in many ways an iconoclast in this respect, for
instead of being a private eye, he's the Assistant Commissioner of the detective department at
Lalbazar, the headquarters of Kolkata Police. The Shabor stories have more proximity with
reality as they pretty much depict the actual investigative methods used by the detective
department, besides portraying the protagonist in a more humanistic light by laying bare his
follies and weaknesses.
Speaking about the myth of the 'private detective' at a literary meet in 2018, Additional
Commissioner of Kolkata Police, Supratim Sarkar said, 'There's no such thing called the "private
detective" existing in reality unlike in fiction. Private eyes are there, but their job is limited to
snooping on people, like the family of the boy/girl whom you're going to marry, and have no
connection with crimes whatsoever.' Sarkar's Goyendapith Lalbazar series, though resembling
Darogar Daftor in form, revisits several of Kolkata Police's famous case files, which are as
sensational as fiction, and offers an insider's view into the workings of the detective department
and its several branches like Homicide, Anti Robbery, Anti Narcotics, Cyber Cell etc in a very
lucid style. A survey through each of the cases would reveal what most of the canonical works
have not dwelt much on: the indispensability of Forensics, the golden rule of visiting the 'Place
of Occurrence' time and again to trace clues, the rigorous interrogation and cross examination of
suspects, and most importantly the framing of the chargesheet, which can either mar or make a
case irrespective of whether the police has ample circumstantial evidence or not.

III. CONCLUSION
To suggest that police detectives are error-free would be imprudent. There have been various
"perfect crimes" like the Zodiac murders, the killings by Jack the Ripper and the Stoneman
murders of Kolkata that have remained unsolved. There have also been instances of botched-up
investigations like the 2008 Noida double murder case, which was transferred from the UP
Police to the CBI. That said, the police detectives follow tried and tested procedurals and heavily
depend on Forensics for evidence, unlike in fiction where too much happens by way of co-
incidence and there's seldom any room for failure. Goyendapith Lalbazar is thus a pathbreaking
work in this genre in Bengali and restores some lost pride for the Japps and Lestrades, who, for
years, have struggled for recognition in a world that has been kinder towards detectives of
imagination.

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