Ashutosh Bhardwaj has a nice review of When Crime Pays in today’s Financial Express. He begins with this anecdote about Sibgatullah Ansari, brother of noted don-politician Mukhtar Ansari, currently an MLA in Uttar Pradesh:

On a night of May 2014, days before the Lok Sabha polls, a bewildered Dalit man entered a palatial haveli in Mohammadabad town of Ballia district in eastern UP. His eight-year-old daughter had been raped, but the police were refusing to file a complaint. Seated on a sofa, Sibgatullah Ansari dialled a number, talked to the cops, seeking immediate action, and dished out a `500 note to the man. “Ja, kuch kha lena. Fikra na kar (Go and eat something. Don’t worry).” This writer was witness to the incident when the tall man dispensed justice, underlining the irony of Indian electoral politics.

The entire review is worth reading as Bhardwaj touches upon some of the (oft-forgotten) historical roots of the criminal-politician nexus. You can read the full review here.