Skip to main content

Book Review: Black Warrant by Sunil Gupta and Sunetra Choudhury




About the book
What is life like inside Asia’s largest prison? What happens when a man is hanged, but his pulse refuses to give up even after two hours? Did Nirbhaya’s rapist, Ram Singh, commit suicide or was he murdered? For the first time, we have a riveting account from an insider who has spent close to four decades as an officer at Tihar Jail during some of the most turbulent times in Indian political history. For the first time, he breaks his silence about all he’s seen – from the first man he met in Tihar, Charles Sobhraj, to the controversies surrounding former CBI head, Alok Verma. Responsible for carrying out ‘Black Warrants’, Gupta witnessed 14 hangings, the most recent and his last, being that of Afzal Guru. Joining him is award-winning journalist Sunetra Choudhury whose recent book Behind Bars is a bestseller and took her deep inside the maze of prisons. Read this book for the most intimate and raw account of India’s judicial and criminal justice system.

My take on the book
TBH, I was kinda sceptical about reading the book because I cannot take disturbing stories, especially which talks about murderers, insensitive crimes or about convicts in general. But at the same time, I was intrigued to know some of the most in-famous crimes the book was covering, so I didn't think twice when I said 'yes' to reviewing the book.
Black Warrant written by Sunil Gupta and Sunetra Choudhury and published by Roli Books is  a gripping and hard- hitting non-fiction about some of the prisoners of Asia’s largest prison. There are few honest and truthful facts about convicts and their last days which will disclose as you read the book, like What happens when a man is hanged, but his pulse refuses to give up even after two hours? Did Nirbhaya’s rapist, Ram Singh, commit suicide or was he murdered? And more such never before known insights of some of the most talked-about cases. The author spent most of his years as a jailor at Tihar and has penned down the story based on his own experiences. I am quite impressed with the way he has narrated the story in the most compelling way.
The story opens up in 1981 when the young author resigns from his railway job and reports to his new job at Tihar jail. The book has an illustration of how the jail look, then and now. the book covers some of the most controversial cases and what went behind when these convicts were in the prison. Some of them include the infamous jailbreak by Charles Shobraj or the one in the 1980s, where over a hundred, walked out of the prison with the visitors, without being stopped at the gates because they had managed to copy the seals which are marked on visitors’ hands and so on. It also puts light on the corruption played by officers and the power of money behind it.
Overall, the book is an honest revelation of what happens in a prison, which many have no clue what goes behind the bars. The author has done justice on his part of narrating everything he noticed, in truth, raw, honesty and some in a humorous style.
A great read for those who are curious to know more about prisoners, some of the most famous controversies, or to understand what is life like inside Asia’s largest prison? 
Book Details
Title: Black Warrant
Author: Sunil Gupta, and Sunetra Choudhury
Price: 336
Page: 208 pages
Publisher: Roli Books (10 November 2019)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 8194206855
ISBN-13: 978-8194206859
My Rating: 4/5




Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Book Review: I’ve Never Been (Un)Happier by Shaheen Bhatt

About the book Lights, Camera . . . Inaction Unwittingly known as Alia Bhatt’s older sister, screenwriter and fame-child Shaheen Bhatt has been a powerhouse of quiet restraint—until now. In a sweeping act of courage, she now invites you into her head. Shaheen was diagnosed with depression at eighteen, after five years of already living with it. In this emotionally arresting memoir, she reveals the daily experiences and debilitating big picture of one of the most critically misinterpreted mental illnesses in the twenty-first century. Equal parts conundrum and enlightenment, Shaheen takes us through the personal pendulum of understanding and living with depression in her privileged circumstances. With honesty and a profound self-awareness, Shaheen lays claim to her sadness, finding it a home in the universal fabric of the human condition. In this multi-dimensional, philosophical tell-all, Shaheen acknowledges, accepts and overcomes the peculiarities of this way of being alive...
3 comments
Read more

Book Review: Birth of the Fae: Locked Out of Heaven by Danielle Orsino

About the Book What would you do if all you knew had abandoned you? Abandoned by their creator, two factions of angels remain on earth after the Great War with Lucifer. These Virtues and Power Angels struggle to comprehend their Creator’s plan while their wings, a symbol of their angelic lineage, slowly and painfully decay. Unaware of one another, the angels learn to survive and reinvent themselves. With no hope of returning to the Shining Kingdom, both groups denounce their angelic lineage and develop into their own factions. They call themselves the “Fae.” This is their story. The Fae world is ruled by two distinct courts: the Court of Light, led by Queen Aurora, a former Virtue Angel, and the Court of Dark, ruled by King Jarvok, a former Power Brigade Angel. The two monarchs have opposing views on how to govern their kin and, more importantly, the way humanity plays into their survival. The one belief they agree on is human worship equals power. Exactly how the two go about capturin...
4 comments
Read more

Reading in Quarantine- #Birthdaybloghop

Books are good company, in sad times and happy times, for books are people – people who have managed to stay alive by hiding between the covers of a book.” – E.B. White With the Coronavirus crisis and most of the nation quarantined inside the comfort of their homes, I can presume all the bookworms silently rejoicing, not that the world is coming to a standstill (that would be rude), but because of the reason that we will have all the possible time in the world to be reading and ticking off our TBR lists (Not precisely though). At least we thought we will have all the possible time in the world to read and read till our eyes are sore, but guess that remind yet another excuse of, ‘maybe, I will start reading tomorrow.' And, one would probably be asking, ‘why read? when we have other things to keep ourselves engaged. There are so many other things to do and catch up with- for instance, binge-watching book adapted series, attending zoom calls, video calling old friends to ch...
8 comments
Read more