Three remote villages in India’s Madhya Pradesh state have become famous for their ‘thief schools’ where children as young as 12 are trained in pickpocketing, theft, and robbery by seasoned criminals.

The three nondescript villages – Kadia, Gulkhedi, and Hulkhedi – located about 120 km from the state capital of Bhopal are reportedly nurseries for young criminals, with parents actually paying ‘tuition fees’ of  200,000 to 300,000 rupees ($2,400 to $3,600) to have their offspring trained in “dark arts” like pickpocketing and bag grabbing in crowded places, carrying out robberies, bank account thefts, evading the police, and even withstanding beatings in the event of being apprehended. These so-called ‘thief schools’ have produced some of the most infamous criminals in India’s history, so they are sought after by impoverished and less-educated families unable to give their children a proper education.

Photo: Charu Chaturvedi/Unsplash

After meeting with gang leaders and paying the required tuition fee, parents send their children to the crime school for one year to acquire various skills and prepare for a life of crime. After graduating and joining the gang, the student’s family receives an annual payment of 300,000 ($3,600) to 500,000 rupees ($6,000) from gang leaders for their service.

Crime is deeply rooted in these remote villages, and although police know about the activities that go on here, there is little they can do, because the communities will always protect the gangs. They are suspicious of strangers and will confront police officers if they even attempt to arrest one of their own.

“When we have to go to these villages, we take the force of several police stations with us to apprehend the accused,” Ramkumar Bhagat, the Inspector of the Boda police station, told NDTV. “These criminals are highly trained in bag lifting, bank thefts, and other crimes, often using minors under the age of 17 to carry out their activities. Most of the thefts are carried out by minors, making it even more challenging to combat this deeply ingrained criminal culture.”

 

Children who undergo training at these rural thief schools come from poor families, but they are taught to blend in with affluent families in order to facilitate stealing from them. They often infiltrate special events like weddings where they can easily pickpocket guests, steal their jewelry, or even pull off full-scale robberies.

According to police records, over 2,000 individuals from these three villages have had over 8,000 cases registered against them in police stations across the country.