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 [‎86v] (72/100)

and in other ways, and on his being brought before me and examined his
demeanour was so very suspicious that I immediately ordered him to be taken
into custody: this was on the 22nd December, and so satisfied tvas I, as well as
my detectives, that he was assuredly acquainted with the facts of the poisoning;
that I agreed to a promise of pardon being offered to him on the distinct
understanding and condition that he would divulge and truthfully state all that
he knew in the matter. I very reluctantly adopted this course as a last resource,
seeing that it was hopeless under all the difficulties the Police had to contend with
to endeavour otherwise to throw light upon this case. Under this promise Rowjee
confessed to me the same evening that he had himself administered the poison
in Colonel Phayre's sherbet at the instigation of His Highness the Gaekwar.
The following morning, as you will remember, I reported this fact to you when
you caused the prisoner Rowjee to be brought before you, and after personally
cautioning him, he made the detailed statement which I took down on the 24th,
25th, and 26th December recorded in the Appendix and lettered G.
19. This statement is briefly to the effect, that for considerably more than
a year he, Rowjee, had been in the constant habit of paying secret night visits
to the Gaekwar; that he had in the first instance been persuaded by Salim Arab
Sowar In the East India Company army and later Indian Army, an ordinary native cavalryman or mounted cavalryman. , but was also invariably accompanied by the confidential Jasood
Yeshwuut Rao Yeola ; that as requested by the Maharaja, he had from time to
time personally, and by written reports, kept him regulajrly informed of all that
transpired of interest to him 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. ; that he had been instrumental
in corrupting the Jemadar Nursoo and getting him to visit the Gaekwar with
the same object; that he and the Jemadar had received from the Gaekwar,
through Yeshwunt Rao and Salim, considerable sums of money at different times
in consideration of the services thus rendered by them; that he had on four
occasions visited the Gaekwar at night with Colonel Phayre's Butler Pedro;
and that on the last occasion it had been suggested by the Maharaja, and
agreed to by the Butler Pedro; that he should administer poison to his master;
that a powder was given to him by the Gaekwar for this purpose, and that
finally, after several unsuccessful plots to poison the Resident, he, Rowjee, and
the Jemadar Nursoo had by appointment met Yeshwunt Rao and Salim at the
Palace about 20 days before the attempt to poison Colonel Phayre was
discovered, and that it was then deliberately planned and arranged
by them and the Gaekwar, that he, Rowjee, should administer poison in the
sheibet which the XLesident wfis in the habit of drinking every morning
after his return from his walk, and that in accordance with this arrangement
he, on the 9th November, administered the poison w r hich he had received from
Nursoo Jemadar two or three days before.
20. Consequent on the confession made by Rowjee, which so seriously
implicated Nursoo, Jemadar of peons, as an accessory in the a tempt to poison
Colonel Phayre, I, with your permission, took Nursoo into custody on the 23rd,
and gave him in charge of your Military guard 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. ; the following
morning he was brought before me at his own request, and made an uncondi^
tional confession, but before hearing the details of the statement which he
offered to make, I deemed it my duty to acquaint you in the first instance with
the fact, that the Jemadar had confessed, and to urge that you would personally
listen to what he had to say and satisfy yourself that his confession was volun
tary and not being made under pressure or hope of pardon.
21. You then ordered Nursoo Jemadar to be brought before you and will
remember that it was clearly and carefully explained to him before hearing
his statement, that you would not only not hold out hope of pardon, but that
he certainly would mt be pardoned, and that upon hearing this he took off his
turban and laid it at your feet, remarking that he might be hanged or have his
throat cut, but that he wished to unburden his mind and divulge all he knew
and added, that he threw himself upon your mercy. He then made a detailed
statement and was afterwards removed to the Military guard till the 26th on
which day I took down his deposition vide Appendix lettered H.
22. It will be seen by a careful perusal and comparison of these two
statements that though Rowjee and Nursoo were taken into custody on
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