It was the April of 1973 . One night , I had successfully secured a fine Chital Deer for the larder . During that day , I had received news from our employees that a large Chital Deer was roaming around the mango garden near our house in the Jolpaiguri Tea Estate . Time for some fresh Venison , I thought .
At night , I took my Indian Ordinance Factories ( IOF ) 12 double barrel side by side shotgun , and loaded it with two “ Indian LG “ cartridges . “ Indian LG “ was a type of home made buck shot, which Indian poachers ( used to ) make. This is made by taking an ordinary bird shot cartridge ( Say , No. 1) and breaking them open , before pouring the lead bird shot in to a cauldron and melting it . Then , the molten lead was re moulded in to forming 6 large leaden pellets . These 6 large pellets are then re loaded back in to the same shot gun cartridge and the shell is then closed again after being treated with molten bee’s wax . It is reasonably effective on up to Chital Deer sized game , if the ranges are kept short .
I attached a small , but powerful flashlight to the fore end of my shotgun with duct tape and I waited for night time to come and then I began to slowly make my way towards the mango garden . TE , my faithful and indispensable tracker had decided to accompany me , for my nocturnal adventure . The Chital was there , licking the ground under a large mango tree . Ever so quietly , I began to stalk my quarry . 50 yards , 30 yards , 20 yards . I was trying to get as close as I possibly could . My shot gun had zero constriction in either barrel , and each 2 3/4 inch cartridge only held 6 pellets . When , I was within 20 yards of the Chital , I signaled TE to circle around the mango garden and try to get in the direction behind the deer . TE did as he was told with the stealthy proficiency of a King Cobra . Once , he had circled around the mango garden and gotten himself in the direction behind the Chital Deer , TE picked up a small pebble and hurled it in the direction of the Chital . The pebble landed on the ground a few inches away from where the Chital was standing . This accomplished my desired effect of “ Spooking “ the Chital and the startled creature began to rush away from the direction from which the pebble was thrown .
In doing so , he directly was coming towards my direction . As he got within 10 paces of my hiding shot , I swiftly leapt up , while simultaneously flicking on my flashlight .
I took aim at the Chital Deer and let off my left barrel at the creature ; full frontal .
The concentrated charge of large buckshot caught the Chital Deer full on , in the chest at practically point blank range and he was quite done for . And thus , our larder had some much appreciated venison for the the next one week .
The next day , a friend of Dad’s had come to have lunch with us at our family home at the Jolpaiguri Tea Estate . He was a Forest Department Official and was one of the more liberal and sensible Hindus who ate meat . Mom and our servants served us all an excellent excellent platter of grilled mutton chops , garlic Naan flat breads and mint yogurt sauce , after which all of us sat at the family lunch table to enjoy our lunch . The Forest Department Official ( Let us henceforth, refer to him as V ) lamented to us about the passing of the Wild Life Protection Act - 1972 and about how the ban on hunting had lead to a rampant increase in poaching all across the 30 states of India . Mom , Dad and I quietly listened to him without saying a word . Did he somehow become aware of my nightly poaching activities ? V went on to rant about how the Forest Department Officials themselves were partaking in wanton poaching , as well . Every single Forest Department Official was anxious to use the ban on licensed hunting to make some easy money under the table by poaching .
V went on to ask Dad and I if we both missed going out on Shikars , like we used to , prior to 1972 . I replied that we obviously did miss going out on hunts very much , but added that we were helpless due to the recent ban on hunting . V , who was aware of my days as a marksman in the Bangladesh Army during the 1971 War Of Independence ,then asked me if I would like to return to hunting once again .
Startled , I exchanged glances with Mom and Dad , who were silent , but judging by the look on their faces ... they were just as shocked as I was . Trying to be diplomatic , I simply asked , “ How ? “ . V told me that there were large quantities of Hunting Leopards , Chital Deer , Nilgai and upland fowl living in the hills around Jolpaiguri Tea Estate and and asked us if they ever venture into the Tea Estate . Mom , without disclosing too much replied , “ Once in a while . “ . We still did not quite understand what V was getting at .
V then flatly asked me why I never attempted to shoot any of the game , which came down from the hills into the Jolpaiguri Tea Estate . Feigning innocence , I flatly replied , “ Prison worries me “ . V laughed and told us that we lived so far away from the villages and towns that it would be practically impossible for the Forest Department Officials or Indian Army Rangers to know what we were doing , as long as we remained careful . He then went on to ask Dad , “ Don’t you have a very big problem with the Hunting Leopards which get down in here from the hills and attack your employees ? “ Dad honestly replied , “ Yes , quite a big problem , in fact . I have lost no less than nine employees after they got killed by those Hunting Leopards . But what to do ? We cannot shoot and kill them either . Your stupid law makers prioritize wildlife over human life . “ V , then finally ceased to speak in a cryptic tone and laid it all before us. He gave us a proposition .
I would shoot the Hunting Leopards which venture into Jolpaiguri Tea Estate and give the hides to V . In exchange for each hide , V would pay me a hefty sum of money as a reward for my troubles . It was a win win situation for all of us. Dad’s tea garden employees would no longer need to worry about man eating Hunting Leopards .
I would earn a good chunk of Rupees under the table for my nightly shooting activities . And V himself would possess the expensive hides of West Bengal Hunting Leopards to sell to a third party .It then , finally dawned upon us that V himself was making us an offer which involved operating outside the perimeters of the Indian law . An offer which would benefit V himself , but could also potentially benefit us . Little did he know that I was already taking some manner of wild game every single night in the Jolpaiguri Tea Estate for the last one year by myself , including six man eating Hunting Leopards and one man eating Black Panther .
Dad , who always gave top priority to my safety ( even today , at the age of 91 and my age being 69 , Dad stills calls me at least four times a day whenever I am traveling outside the city . ) then flatly told V , “ My boy only has an IOF 12 Bore DBBL gun and that is just about the worst weapon for the purposes of hunting anything , let alone man eating Carnivora . Even 2 months ago , the right barrel of his IOF 12 Bore DBBL burst after he fired a ball cartridge through it . We had to purchase a new one for him . Do you really expect him to risk his life , going after Hunting Leopards with such a pathetic excuse of a weapon ? “ . This actually was true . What Dad tactfully neglected to mention , was that I was hunting a Nilgai at night when it had happened . I had loaded both barrels of my IOF 12 Bore DBBL gun with IOF 2 3/4 inch Spherical Ball cartridges and had gone off to shoot a Nilgai at night , with the aid of my flashlight . Unfortunately , when I had the beast’s shoulder dead within my sights and pulled the trigger to my right barrel .... a tremendous blast occurred as the shot gun’s barrel burst . I was temporarily deaf in my right ear for three weeks after that gruesome disaster , but praise be to the Lord that I did not suffer any other injuries in the slightest . Dad purchased me another IOF 12 Bore DBBL gun the very next day , and cautioned me not to fire any more spherical ball cartridges through that cheap pot metal gun , ever again .
V answered Dad , “ I will give him a proper tool for the task . But if he is ever caught with it , then the prison sentence will be extremely stiff. “ . I quietly nodded , wondering what it was that V would provide me with .
Next week , V visited the Jolpaiguri Tea Estate once again. With him , he had brought along an ornate mahogany wooden case , On the case , was engraved “ John Rigby & Co. “ . V opened the case and showed me the contents of that mahogany wooden case.
It was like falling in love . There , lying disassembled within the case was a brand new John Rigby & Co. sidelock Double Rifle . It was a .375 Holland & Holland magnum and it’s beauty was unrivaled by anything else , which I had seen at the time. That fine stock of English walnut . Those blued steel barrels . That ornate sidelock receiver . That ivory bead fore sight . Absolutely marvelous . It had 24 inch long barrels , automatic ejectors , double triggers and a manual safety .Also packed inside the case were the cleaning tools for the rifle , and three boxes of Winchester 300 grain cartridges . Two boxes were full of Winchester Silvertip soft nose cartridges . One box was full of Winchester full metal jacket cartridges . I had read about these splendid weapons in the books written by James Sutherland and John Pondoro Taylor , of African fame . I had seen these sweet rifles in the hands of the great Stewart Granger , as he starred in “ King Solomon’s Mines “ and “ Harry Black & The Tiger . “ . However , I had never seen such a beautiful looking rifle first hand , ever in my life , prior to that day .
After 1947 , no new firearms of foreign manufacture had been imported into India and after 1972 , an Indian citizen owning an imported firearm was a literally rarer than hen’s teeth. So , how exactly did V come across this fine weapon , in a country where only those pathetic excuses of firearms from Indian Ordinance Factories were available to civilians for purchase and ownership ? I asked V the exact same question . V chuckled and simply replied that he was not a civilian and that Forest Department Officials could have firearms of foreign makes imported into India for their use , during the course of “ Carrying out ( their )duties “ . This was V’s licensed rifle , which he had commissioned fully bespoke from John Rigby & Co. in 1972 .
V would let me borrow the rifle , in order to make my nocturnal pursuits of those man eating Hunting Leopards , a little bit more convenient. V would be visiting Jolpaiguri Tea Estate once a month in order to purchase the hides of the man eating Hunting Leopards which I had shot , from me . Whenever , my stock of cartridges would dwindle , V would bring me a couple of boxes of fresh cartridges , in order to replenish my stock . However , if I ever got caught by the police or Forest Department Officials with this Majestic weapon , then I would be facing a hefty prison term for violating the so called Indian “ Arms Act “ .
And thus , there I was . Armed with a .375 Holland & Holland Magnum and ready to face any man eating Hunting Leopard , which ventured in to Jolpaiguri Tea Estate . Dad always speculated that in order to afford a fully bespoke John Rigby & Co. Double rifle , V must have been involved in a number of shady practices . This was because Dad strongly doubted that V could actually afford a bespoke “ London Best “ with the kind of salary which a Forest Department Official was getting paid , for their “ Honest Work . “ . However , I was ecstatic with excitement for finally being able to use a .375 Holland & Holland Magnum now for dispatching man eating Hunting Leopards .
And true enough , just one month after that , another man eating Hunting Leopard had ventured into Jolpaiguri Tea Estate and I decided to pit my skill against yet another feline menace . Let the story of how that incident actually went down , begin now .
The barrels and proof marks on an Indian Ordinance Factories 12 Bore double barrel side by side shotgun . Contrary to what the proof marks suggest , the cylinder bore ( Zero choke ) barrels of these miserable guns often could not withstand the pressure of even a standard Indian Ordinance Factories 2 3/4 inch spherical ball cartridge without bursting . The countless complaints by the dozens of local Indian Shikaris and target shooters who were unfortunate enough to have these IOF 12 Bore DBBL gun barrels burst ( often injuring them in the process ) , were largely ignored by the Indian Ordinance Factories .
