NEW DELHI, May 13: The chance arrest of a nine-year-old boy has led the Delhi police to the sordid underworld of organised begging and pocket-picking. Constantly beaten up and forced to beg and pick pockets, the nine-year-old boy fled Delhi and went to Haridwar. Poverty and hunger forced him to beg and pick pockets there too - the only thing the child knew best.

At the Har ki Pauri, he was caught and arrested. With him five more persons; three adolescents and two youth were also arrested. Their disclosures have led to the uncovering of a network operating from Delhi. In this connection the north-east district police, on Tuesday, picked up 22-year-old Lala Gujjar, suspected to be the man spearheading the operation in league with bigger fish.

As part of the racket, children were sent out to Ghaziabad, Meerut and Haridwar to beg and pick pockets and their refusal to do so led to their being beaten up and even sodomized in some cases.

Born in the Ashok Nagar slums under the Nand Nagari police station, Chotu followed his elder brother's example and learnt to beg young. Soon he was taught the ``art'' of picking pockets. ``Today, at the age of nine, even I think he is the best we have,'' Lala Gujjar told The Indian Express.

Lala ,christened Sanjay Bhati by his parents, coaxed and cajoled Chotu to do better. If Chotu refused, he was beaten up. ``I did not have a fixed cut. Whatever he brought, he gave it to me and I gave him a part of it,'' Lala said.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.