There is a rub-off effect from a non-Tamil-speaking criminal on his interpreter. When the interpreters help the arrested accused and the police and lawyers ‘understand’ each other, they come into contact with the criminal world.
Over a period of time, some of them tend to become like the criminals and start following the path of the accused.
“We found that some people who help the interstate criminals with Tamil language tend to become partners in crime due to acquaintance,” noted a police officer who had seen a man from Seven Wells, who used to help the counterfeit currency accused, being arrested in connection with fake notes case recently.
Some of them get to know the accused through their link with the lawyers. “Because lawyers use people with good knowledge of Hindi and Tamil to interact with criminals from the northern states, interpreters with criminal background use this opportunity to build their contacts in the criminal world,” noted the police officer.
Purushothaman from Seven Wells used to assist a lawyer interact with a fake note accused from West Bengal.
“But, of late, we found Purushothaman himself travelling to Malta district in West Bengal to bring in Pak-printed Indian counterfeit currency via Bangladesh,” the officer said.
Many police officers admit that language barrier has been a serious problem while dealing with north Indian criminals.
“We need to look for help either from senior north Indian officers or Hindi-speaking residents. In most cases, such help will not be available immediately. Finally, when we get help, some of them prefer to cross over to the other side,” noted the officer.