Kadiya village seems plucked from the pages of a Dickensian novel, but crime here is a profession, taught and executed, as parents hand over their children to local gangs that teach them the dark arts of pickpocketing, bag-snatching, and deceit.
A sinister version of Fagin’s academy plays out in real life in a Madhya Pradesh village. Unlike Dickens’ ragged street urchins, the children of Kadiya in Rajgarh district don’t stumble into crime. They are groomed for it with chilling precision.
In this shadowy world, parents willingly hand over children as young as 12 to gang leaders, paying hefty fees of Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 3 lakh for an education in deception and theft. The curriculum is as cold and calculated as Fagin’s: pickpocketing, bag-snatching, and the fine art of slipping through the cracks of the law.
The gang leaders teach these children how to blend into the crowd, how to create a distraction, and how to vanish without a trace when the deed is done. They even learn how to handle physical confrontations should they be caught.
Once their schooling in crime is complete, these young apprentices are bound to work for the gang for a year. Their skills sharpened and their morals dulled. The parents, complicit in this dark tradition, receive Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh in return — a grim transaction where innocence is traded for money.
The operations of these modern-day artful dodgers are as meticulously planned as any heist. Gangs conduct reconnaissance before moving in on their targets, often unsuspecting people who have just withdrawn large sums of money from banks.
The young thieves employ a variety of deceptive tactics, spilling something on a victim to create a distraction or engaging them in conversation to ask for directions, while they swiftly snatch bags and wallets.
Weddings, with their bustling crowds and distracted guests, become prime hunting grounds, with children and women often deployed to deflect suspicion.
A local official, preferring anonymity, expressed disbelief at the depth of the problem.
This isn’t just petty crime. It’s a well-oiled machine. The involvement of parents makes it all the more unsettling.
he says.
Kadiya’s notoriety as a hub of crime was exposed after a major theft in Rajasthan. On March 25, a retired military officer in Jhunjhunu reported the theft of Rs 10 lakh. Initially baffled, police uncovered clues from CCTV footage that pointed to Kadiya.
By August, suspects were arrested, but the investigation revealed a deeper problem – retrieving the stolen money led police to uncover the village’s notorious activities.
Kadiya, along with its neighbouring villages Gulkhadi and Hulkhadi, houses a large population from the Sansi community, historically classified as a criminal, nomadic tribe before India’s independence, with British authorities accusing them of stealing government food supplies.
The infamy stuck to this day.
“The people of Kadiya are involved in criminal activities in Madhya Pradesh and across other states,” says Rajgarh’s superintendent of police Aditya Mishra.
Mishra pointed to a recent crime in Jaipur as evidence of Kadiya’s reach. “On August 8, during the wedding of a businessman’s son from Telangana at a five-star hotel in Jaipur, a 14-year-old boy stole a bag containing jewellery and other valuables worth Rs 1.45 crore. The boy was from Kadiya,” he recalls.
Accessing Kadiya and its neighbouring villages is no simple task. The community is fiercely protective of its own, often resorting to violence.
The village is home to several well-organised criminal gangs, each with six to seven members, who commit crimes across the country before returning to Kadiya to enjoy their spoils. They live in opulent homes, equipped with every modern amenity imaginable. Expensive cars and bikes are common, symbols of the wealth accumulated through theft and deceit.
The legal defences these gangs have in place are formidable. A team of lawyers is always on standby, ready to defend any gang member caught in the act. This legal support makes it rare for the main gang leaders to be captured, despite law enforcement’s efforts.
Police from nearly every state in northern India have attempted to crack down on Kadiya’s criminal network, with little success.
The police forces in Jhunjhunu have faced these challenges first-hand. They said the tight-knit community in Kadiya makes gathering information nearly impossible.
“In Kadiya, the women are more actively involved in criminal activities than the men. They carry out thefts and pick pockets across states. When police attempt to investigate or make arrests in the village, they face a wall of silence and resistance,” Mishra says.
Kadiya’s dark reputation highlights the complex intersection of criminality and community loyalty, where crime is not just tolerated but taught. “In the past, police teams have faced violent attacks and even gunfire when attempting to make arrests. These hostile confrontations have made it nearly impossible to effectively police or gather evidence from Kadiya,” Mishra remarks.
The small village, shrouded in secrecy, has become a breeding ground for young pickpockets and thieves, with parents playing a disturbingly active role. As the village’s own version of Fagin continues to thrive, the call for change grows louder, demanding an end to this tragic exploitation of children.
A teacher from the village, watching helplessly as his students are pulled into the underworld, adds: “These children are trapped. It’s not just their hands that are being trained, but their minds, too. Intervention is desperately needed.”
The lead image at the top shows the seemingly idyllic village of Kadia in Madhya Pradesh, where children are trained in the art of thievery and deception. (Photo by Akansha Deshmukh)
Akansha Deshmukh is an independent investigative journalist who operates mainly in central India.
