Note 74 — B

Banjâras and crime. 21. In former times the Banjâras especially in Gorakhpur and the neighbouring districts, had an evil reputation for dakaiti and similar offences.74 This is in a great measure a thing of the past. In recent years they have come under the notice of the police in connection with the kidnapping of girls. There can be little doubt that most, if not all of them, occasionally introduce girls of other castes into the tribe. Quite recently the police in the Agra District have found reason to suspect that some of them in the guise of Commissariat contractors carry on an extensive trade in stolen cattle, and are in the habit of appropriating and changing the brands on the so-called Brâhmani bulls which are released by Hindus on the occasion of a death.