Enclosures of letter to Her Majesty's Secretary of State for India, No.11, dated 15 January 1875: Nos. 3 to 45 of Abstract of Contents, from the Officiating Under-Secretary to the Government of India, Fort William [‎72v] (42/100)

8 He had ample opportunities of poisoning tlie slierbet himself in
collusion with Govind Baloo Hamal on the morning of Monday, November
9th, 1874.
9. His statement abounds with falsehoods and contradictions.
10. He is a disreputable and dangerous character, whose antecedents have
now for the first time been clearly made know n.
11. He could give no satisfactory explanation of Government Rupees Indian silver coin also widely used in the Persian Gulf. 100
which were found in his box at the Hesidency.
12. He had ample opportunities for conspiring with Govind Baloo Hamal,
as these two were left behind together at the Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. when the Resident went
with the Maharaja to Nowsaree from April to May last.
37. The reasons for suspecting Govind Baloo Hamal are as follows :—
1. Govind Baloo admits that he was in the Resident's private room with
Abdoolla on the morning of Monday, November Oth, and that Abdoolla left
the room before he did.
9. Although Govind Baloo first acknowledged and then denied that he
saw Abdoolla bnnging pummelo sherbet as usual, it is certain that Abdoolla did
bring and place it on the table as usual in Govind Baloo's presence.
3. Govind Baloo admits that he did not leave the Resident's private room
until verv near 7 a.m . At that time he was the only person who is known to
have been in the room, and the Resident returned just about the time that he
left the room.
4. Govind Baloo Hamal is the only servant who is employed daily in
the Resident's private office room. Four other Hamals take it by turns to
sweep the room.
5. Govind Baloo was much agitated under examination, and gave his
evidence in a most suspicious manner, he also showed a marked disinclination
to say anything regarding the other suspected persons, Paizoo Ramzan.
6. Govind Baloo was left at the Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. with Taizoo Ramzan during
the Resident's absence at Nowsaree during the months of April and May, and
has had peculiar facilities for committing the crime in question.
38. From this summary it will be seen that there is no direct evidence
against either of the suspected persons of the crime of administering poison
to the Resident on the morning of Monday, November 9th, but that either ol
the suspected persons had an opportunity of committing the crime either sepa
rately or in collusion, and that no serious suspicion at present attaches to
any other person in the Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. Establishment.
39. It remains to consider certain collateral points which bear more or
less directly on the matter under investigation.
40. First, with regard to the nature of the poison employed, the Resident
received on the 12th instant confidential information that the poison administer
ed to him consisted, 1^, of arsenic; %id, diamond dust; 3> y /, copper. The presence
of the two elements first named, viz., arsenic and diamond dust, has been
formally corroborated by the analysis of the Residency An office of the East India Company and, later, of the British Raj, established in the provinces and regions considered part of, or under the influence of, British India. Surgeon and Chemical
Analyser to Government, copies of whose reports and letters on the subject
are herewith attached. The presence of copper was suspected by the Chemical
Analyser to Government, in consequence of the symptom stated by the Resident
that after drinking some of the poisoned sherbet he recognized a strong
metallic taste. The presence of copper has not however yet been officially
verified; but considering the fact that arsenic is tasteless or nearly so, there
is a strong probability that the Resident's independent information regarding
the admixture of copper is correct.
41. It appears to be almost certain that a poisonous compound of arsenic,
diamond dust, and copper would not have been employed by an ordinary poisoner
to effect the destruction of the Resident's life. The combined use of these
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