Whosoever says history is boring could not be far from wrong. It can not only be interesting but can also tell us about the past and provides a glimpse of how the society has evolved which is indeed very fascinating. Take for instance the first recorded crime in Delhi.

The denizens of the Capital will be pleasantly surprised that the first time a First Information Report was filed in the city was 160 years ago. It was lodged on October 18, 1861, under the Police Act.

The FIR was lodged by Maeeuddin S/o Mohd Yaar Khan, of Katra Sheesh Mahal, who had registered the report for theft of items, the sum total worth of which was 45 annas, nearly Rs 2.81 then, from his home. The FIR was filed at the Subzi Mandi Police Station in North Delhi and the objects that were listed as stolen included a hookah (smoking pipe), cooking vessels, and a kulfi (ice cream).

A former Special Director of the Intelligence Bureau, Yashovardhan Azad, has posted the throwback picture of the 160-year-old FIR.

The image of the FIR has been clicked and displayed by the North Delhi Police at the Delhi Police museum.

Interestingly, as per the official records, there were only five police stations in Delhi at that time. These were Subzi Mandi, Mundka, Mehrauli, Kotwali and Sadar Bazar.

There are still “several case properties” from that period that are preserved at the Subzi Mandi Police Station. Among the highly absorbing complaints that were lodged there, included theft of a mule (registered on April 30, 1895), theft of 11 oranges which were worth two annas then (February 16, 1891) and stealing of pyjamas on March 15, 1897 and its value was put as five annas!

The FIR was filed in Urdu, which was then the official language of the region.