It could have been a scene out of a feel-good movie. But here was a rare case of a policeman going the extra mile to get an illicit arrack seller in Ranipet to turn a new leaf.
Nataraj, 40, of Kathirikuppam in Ranipet sub-division had several cases pending against him — all for the same offence — selling illicit arrack. According to the police, he often made trips to villages in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh villages to fetch stock and was also addicted to hooch. He and his wife had been remanded several times. Nothing seemed to deter him from carrying on with his occupation.
It was in these circumstances that R. Arun Rajkumar, a sub-inspector from SIPCOT police station, decided to take this as a challenge.
When he went to meet Nataraj, he took the latter's son along with him. He wanted the youngster to convince his dad of the error of his ways, and he hoped that this would lead to a change. Mr. Arun also decided to leave nothing to chance and even approached the village heads of Kathirikuppam and the team went to the house to talk sense into Nataraj.
Emotional approach
Nataraj's son narrated his experiences in school, where boys spoke ill of his family background only because his father sold arrack. Finally, something gave way, and Nataraj promised he would never sell arrack again. Pleased with the success of his very first such venture, Mr. Arun is hopeful that he would be able to employ the technique in other cases as well. "Hopefully, we will succeed in that too," he said.
