MY WORKING LIFE
Shankar Basu Pandey’s drawings help the police nab culprits - meet Mr portrait parlé.
Police ‘portrait parlé’ artist Shankar Basu Pandey on how his sketches have helped nab some of Kolkata’s robbers, murderers, traffickers and kidnappers.
What exactly do you do?
I am employed with Kolkata Police and my job involves drawing sketches of murderers, traffickers, chain snatchers, dacoits, fraudsters and kidnappers. After a crime has been committed, the witnesses to the crime describe the criminal to me. I draw a sketch from their description and that sketch is used by the police to look for the culprit and nab him.
How did you get into the field?
In 2010, I joined Kolkata Police as a constable after doing my BA in Fine Arts. I am also an animator. I used to sketch portraits while sitting in the office and picked up the skills from senior portrait parlé [meaning ‘spoken portrait’ in French] artists. One of my seniors noticed my talent and asked me to take an exam to become a portrait parlé artist. Later I was sent for training at the National Crime Records Bureau in Delhi.
What was your first assignment?
It was a cheating case and I was asked to draw a portrait of the man according to the description given by the person who had been cheated. I could sketch the upper part of the face but I couldn’t perfect the lower part. It took me a long time, but when I finished, the person who was describing was satisfied with the picture.
How long does it take you to do a sketch? Usually it takes about half an hour, but if the person has not seen the suspect very well and isn’t that sure, it takes up to an hour. Sketching a purse or jewellery snatcher is most difficult. The victim barely gets a glimpse of him because he is gone in a blink. But I have been successful in helping the police nab a number of snatchers.
Do you use software, or sketch with a pencil? There is software available, but I feel it consumes more time. It is better and more specific if I erase on paper and then keep creating and re-creating. I am far more comfortable doing this with my pencil. There have been occasions when I have used Photoshop – I scan my sketch, open it in Photoshop and fill it with colour.
What sets you apart from other artists?
Better observation and imagination. When I went to art college, I was always better at doing portraits than any other kind of drawing.
Do you keep particular attributes in mind? There are definite techniques and we have around 1,000 sets of eyes and noses as references. We sometimes show these to the eyewitness but I’ve noticed that often these references can confuse the witness. I prefer to rely on the witness’s memory and description to draw the correct picture.
What is the most exciting part of your job? It often happens that I have not even done half the sketch and a police officer recognises the person as a repeat offender and jumps up and says, ‘Oh! This is so and so.’ I feel a thrill going down my spine. After I finish a drawing, sometimes the person who is describing the offender to me says, ‘how could you make it so perfect? Yes, this is the person.’ It’s very satisfying to hear this.
What has been your success rate?
It is very hard to tell you statistically because in most cases once the sketch is done I am not supposed to be informed about the proceedings of the case. But in many cases after my sketch has been used to nab the suspect and he or she is convicted, I am given the original picture of the convict. That is when I have seen my sketch has been 80 to 90 per cent accurate. What was your most challenging assignment? This incident happened in Ultadanga in Kolkata. A gentleman had a guest at his house and after breakfast they left home together. When he didn’t return at night, the gentleman’s family contacted the police. A search was launched and the man’s body was found near a bridge. The daughter had seen the guest and was asked to describe him so that I could draw the sketch.
She was in such emotional turmoil over losing her father that she kept breaking down when trying to describe the suspect. Working with someone in so much mental distress is very difficult. I had to keep on asking her about the details of the man’s features. I have to understand the situation of the person and deal with her accordingly. At the same time I was under pressure to come up with the sketch quickly so that the police could start the hunt.
Using my sketch, the police traced the man to Uttar Pradesh, and he is now in jail.
Do you ever feel exasperated when people come up with contradictory descriptions?
If I cannot keep a cool head, I will not be able to perform in this field. I am constantly dealing with people who are under emotional stress. In cases of kidnapping for instance, the emotional distress is so great that contradictions and wrong descriptions are bound to happen. That is when I have to play a role in guiding the person who is describing in the right direction. Once, a mother came to report the kidnapping of her child. She got angry with me because she felt I was asking too many questions. She would keep retorting, ‘don’t you know how a nose looks? Don’t you know how eyes are?’
Do you worry that a convict might get back to you once he serves his term?
Usually they do not know who drew their sketch unless I have to make a court appearance. I have actually never thought about it from this perspective. As a member of the police force, dealing with criminals is my job.
Often, I have not even done half the sketch and a police officer recognises the person as a repeat offender. I feel a thrill going down my spine.