Who Was This Man (Paan Singh) Cont'd
Paan Singh had already been faraar for over a year when on the way to filing an FIR at the Sihoniya Thana he received news that his older son Hanumant - a whirlwind in his own right - in renewed hostilities a day after Holi, had shot at Jagannath with a 12-bore, injuring his arm.
The reason for this flashpoint was the beating a lone Hanumant had received on March 16 at the hands of Jandel's brothers and cousins when was out in the fields to relieve himself. "Kaho, kaisi rahi dhulai?" someone mocked him when he was on his way home. On reaching home, Hanumant grabbed the family 12-bore and set out to settle scores. Poor Jagannath, a man of god, and with no great part in the feud, committed the grave folly of appearing in the midst of the commotion at the main well in the village centre, brandishing a trishul. Hanumant, sensing a new threat, simply took aim and fired.
Paan Singh and older brother Maatadin - a ganja-loving no-gooder - had reason to believe that the village was turning against them after the panchayat had overturned their plea of having their 2. 5-bhiga plot of land returned by Jandel and Babbu for a fee of Rs 3, 000. An argument ensued. It is said Paan Singh then never reached the police station, choosing to take to the ravines instead. Jagannath's fragile state gave way to more panic and anger as the rivals took him away for treatment and on March 17, 1979, the menfolk of Paan Singh's family decided to flee - leaving all the harvested sarson, arhar and bajra, the cattle and, in typical feudal fashion, even the womenfolk, behind.
Paan Singh was declared a baaghi when he chased and shot down Babbu Singh - the second of the three brothers and his own distant nephew - barely a week after the 1979 Holi incident. On March 26, 1979, news reached Paan Singh and his band of men that Babbu Singh had been sighted at Sonari Ka Pura village, returning home after buying a new pair of buffaloes and a 15-foot wide canal separated the two men. What followed is a piece of daredevilry and supreme atheleticsm or cowardly cold-blooded murder, depending on who is telling the story. "Babbu ko daudakar goli maari Paan Singh ney. Peeche se, " remembers Birender. "Babbu nihattha tha, " he adds.
"Arrey Chachaji (as Paan Singh was called by his men) woh dekho Babbu Singh!" Souram Singh narrates the story as he was told it. "Bahut door hai, bhaag lega, " said a worried Balwant Singh, son of Maatadin. "Kahin nahin bhagega, " was Chachaji's calm reply. And saying so, Paan Singh cleared the yawning 15-feet canal with one effortless leap - rifle and bullets belt in tow. "Balwant tried to do the same, but landed face-first into the water, " remembers Souram, sitting in his Babina (British Army Base In Near Asia) home near Jhansi, and barely supressing a laugh at his older cousin's comical misfortune. "Pitaji caught Babbu in Lohri Ka Pura, a neighbouring village after chasing him for nearly a couple of kilometres. He easily outpaced him. "
Souram Singh tells stories with a relaxed air. Often in the midst of a narration, he pauses and allows himself a chuckle or two as he goes back in time. Like the story of how someone picked the dreaded dacoit's pocket while he was travelling incognito on the passenger train between Hetampur and Jhansi. Finding himself set back by Rs 10, 000 - the same inaam that the state government had announced on his head - Paan Singh got off, found a police station and promptly lodged a FIR. "Police ke pass chale gaye? Kya naam likha?" a shocked Souram remembers asking. "Apne aap ko Gujjar likhwa diya, " came the calm reply.
Maybe he gets his knack for easy laughter from his father. Souram Singh has his father's height and even his rabbit's ears. His only surviving son, there is a sombre side to him too. Barely 19 when they had to flee Bhidosa, Souram grew up early - learning the responsibility and crushing burden of being the son of an outlaw. "Till three years ago we were fighting court cases. All my savings from the army have gone in trying to clear our name, " says the 50-something. It is a reflection of what Birender, the politically-astute village sarpanch too went through when his father and uncles were shot down by Paan Singh. "I was about 19 or 20 and I had to file all the reports and file the cases, " he remembers.
For his part, Hanumant was his father's true son - Sonny to a weary Vito Don Corleone. He carried on the feud in his own way. A year after Babbu's killing, Rameshwar, a nephew of his and employed with Signals, was lured to a common relative's place in Gwalior, fed with sumptuous meal and then shot by a waiting Hanumant in the middle of the city's Thatipur Chouraha near Chauhan Piao.
After having grown up watching his older brother waste his life away, Paan Singh was now tiring of his older son's spendthrift ways. "Stay clear of him. He'll blow up all your savings, " was his constant advice to the younger Souram, whenever he descended home or set up a meeting in secret (Their last meeting was in May 1980 near Bhind, Mehgaon). To which, the cavalier Hanumant shot back: "Pitaji kya denge mujhe? Agar main Madhav Rao Scindia key khaandaan mein paida hota, unka bhi diwala nikal deta. " Hanumant lived by the bullet and he died by it - killed in a road mishap near Jhansi while riding a motorbike some years later.
He liked his rum, " says Souram gently. "So it was my duty to get whatever brand I could get my hands on from the canteen - Hercules or Sea Pirate. He would keep a small bottle carefully hidden in the satchel he always carried. He always had one drink a day, never more. But that day, people in Rathiapura said he was sluggish, not sharp as he was and many felt it was to do with too much drink. But that day someone poisoned his drink. "
According to Souram, on October 1, 1981 Paan Singh had gone to Rathiapura to preside over a petty feud, and the mukhbir (informer) who knew he would be visiting, tipped off the police. But there are other versions too. Sahab Singh the childhood friend, says Paan Singh used to often secretly visit a woman in her husband's absence at Rathiapura. The police learnt of it. You cannot ask Souram about this, but both say that the first bullet was fired on his leg, halting a powerful athlete from making off on his famous runs.
"When I was small, after his evening practice, Pitaji and I would sit on the banks of the canal in Roorkie and talk. I would ask him, 'How do you run? Saans nahin phoolti?' And he would reply, 'Saans kahan phoolti hai? Bhaagne sey saans pucci ho jaati hai'. "
Paan Singh Tomar would know. He was a man forever on the run.
