Kissa kursi ka: When Mumbai cops’ fortunes are tied to the chair they sit on

MUMBAI: In a corner of the Crime Intelligence Unit (CIU) of the Mumbai crime branch lies a dusty wooden chair ignored by all and sundry. It once belonged to the police official who headed the prestigious CIU but whose fortunes began plummeting the day he was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in connection with a trader’s murder and for allegedly planting an explosives-laden vehicle outside an industrialist’s house.
The above-mentioned story of Sachin Waze is fairly common knowledge for those who followed the Mukesh Ambani-Mansukh Hiren episode in 2021. Less common is the story of his chair, a revolving one made by prisoners lodged in Thane Central Jail.
When Waze took charge at the CIU, he was offered a comfortable cushioned chair but turned it down for the wooden chair, saying that the latter gave him the “proper feel of a government officer”. After his arrest, no other police officer was willing to use it. “It is now used to keep files temporarily and at times to interrogate accused persons,” said a police officer.
In the superstition-shrouded environs of some Mumbai police stations, many officers believe that their fortunes are tied to their chairs. Several officers stick to the chair they feel is lucky for them and refuse to use any other. If it breaks, they get it repaired; and some even take their chair with them to their new posting when they are transferred.
Then there are those who refuse to use an old chair if the previous incumbent, like Waze, has been nabbed by the anti-corruption bureau or other government agencies, believing that the “negative forces” associated with such chairs could adversely impact their professional life. Others work around this by changing the position of the table and chairs. Some officers do this even with chairs not associated with previous bad luck; they face them in “auspicious” directions and avoid “inauspicious” colours like black in the office.
Waze’s chair is not the only one considered ill-fated by his ex-colleagues. The chair of dismissed police inspector Sunil Mane, Waze’s co-accused in the Antilia explosives scare and Mansukh Hiren murder case, is considered equally cursed. Mane too used to occupy a chair made by Thane jail inmates in the Kandivali crime branch unit at the time of his arrest by the NIA. The chair has now been thrown out of the unit office. “I have no idea where it went,” said a police inspector when asked about the “unlucky” chair.
“Such beliefs play a crucial role in the decision-making process of several men in uniform,” said a recently retired assistant commissioner of police, adding that he had used only two chairs, bought with his own money, in his 34 years of service. “When I joined the force as a sub-inspector in 1989, I bought the first chair with my first salary and used it till 2008 when I was promoted as police inspector and then bought a second chair,” he said. “I used the second chair till my retirement a few months ago and am still using it at home. Several people offered me new expensive chairs at the office but I refused. I got my old chair repaired whenever required and made it comfortable, as I felt that I did fantastic work and the chair was very lucky for me.”
Like this retired ACP, several police officers make it a point to purchase chairs from their own salaries and to not use gifted chairs. “You could face multiple complications within a week if you use a gifted chair,” said another police officer. “For instance, a sudden multiplication of workload, being targeted by bosses or the cases being investigated by you getting stuck.” Officers believe they can avoid such mishaps when they continue to use their “lucky chairs”.
“When I became unit in-charge, I brought my own chair here,” said a police inspector who has been promoted and posted as in-charge of a crime branch unit. “We spend 14 to 16 hours a day in the office and are required to take everything into consideration.” The inspector hastened to add that he equally believed in hard work.
A senior officer said that over a period of time, the superstitions actually became part of protocol in certain police stations. “For example, station house duty is assigned to a different officer every week, and only the station house officer is allowed to sit on that chair,” he said. “If the SHO is away and someone else comes to help out the people waiting for them, that person conducts the business standing because sitting on the SHO’s chair could bring bad luck to the latter.”
Sometimes, the myth goes beyond chairs to people. Recently, an in-charge of a police station from the central region was heard telling an in-charge of another police station that there was a sub-inspector in his police station who was “unlucky”. “Whenever he is deputed as the duty officer, a major case lands up,” he said, citing the recent hit-and-run involving the drunken son of a political leader and a brutal murder. In both cases, said the in-charge, the police station could not arrest the accused but the crime branch unit did.
Not all police officers think the same way of course. A few years ago, there was a craze among police officers for the revolving wooden chairs made by Thane Jail inmates. The chairs were in high demand in police stations across Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai and some other government offices, with several officers looking at their use as an opportunity to promote and provide a market for jail products. Again, though, there were those who saw “negativity” associated with them since they had been made by prisoners. More often than not, it’s superstition that wins in Mumbai’s police stations.