White Knights: New Book Invite

Dear Customs Officers,

While serving in Customs, you have carried out countless acts of courage. You have confronted dangerous smugglers and criminal syndicates head-on, and seized smuggled goods and narcotics worth crores of rupees. Unfortunately, the stories behind these extraordinary actions have rarely reached the world. We are now bringing these untold stories to the public in the form of a book.

We understand that the world of Customs is extremely complex. Often, outsiders are unable to grasp the challenges and pressures associated with the job. Through these stories, readers will gain insight into the internal and external struggles of Customs officers, their unique styles of working, the ingenious ways they prepare for raids, the hardships they endure, and the astonishing effort that goes into every successful operation.

The Customs department cannot be compared to any other government organization under any circumstances. On one hand, Customs officers thwart attempts to weaken the country’s economic backbone; on the other, they serve the nation and humanity by intercepting drugs and toxic substances meant to destroy the younger generation. They expose every conspiracy aimed at harming the nation’s trade and industry. Working in Customs is a form of service and dedication that cannot truly be expressed through any medium.

The question is—how do officers actually deal with smugglers and white-collar criminals? Every Customs officer has a distinct and unique working style, and within the cases they crack lie remarkable and inspiring stories.

Very little is known about Indian Customs officers and their achievements. Apart from the occasional brief newspaper report, their work rarely receives the recognition it deserves.

A plan has now been conceived to write a book that brings these aspects to light—how Customs officers work and how they cracked specific cases.

This book will benefit new Customs officers and staff, readers, friends, lovers of literature, and researchers alike. It will highlight your hard work, sacrifices, patriotism, dedication, and relentless struggle. The book will also serve as a reference guide for understanding the inner world of Customs.

What should be written in the article?

1. Describe the important case you solved—when, how, where, and from whom did you receive the first crucial information?
2. What steps did you take afterward? Whom did you inform first? If you spoke to a senior officer, what was discussed? Were you given any specific instructions? Was any special preparation made?
3. What difficulties did you face during the raid?
4. Explain in detail how the smugglers had concealed the smuggled goods.
5. How did you recover the consignment? What was its value at the time? How did the investigation proceed afterward?
6. How many accused were arrested in total?
7. If the case went to court, what punishment was awarded to which accused?
8. If there was an informer involved in your case, change the name while writing. Also mention how much reward was given for the information.
9. While handling this case, did you face any pressure to drop or stop it? If yes, from whom and what kind of pressure?
10. Did the smuggling syndicate or gang later make any offer to you or attempt to sabotage the case? Please describe how you dealt with such situations.
11. Did you receive any award or recognition from the department or the government for solving this case? Mention this at the end.
12. Include any other important information that you believe must be known.

Important Notes:

1. Last date for submission of articles: 31 March 2026
2. Tentative date of book publication and release: 30 June 2026
3. Articles should not exceed 2,000 words.
4. An officer may submit more than one article.
5. Articles must be original. If any references are used, they must be mentioned at the end of the article.
6. Articles should be sent only in Hindi or Marathi, typed in Unicode Mangal font, and submitted only in Word or DOCX file format.
7. Please share your Unicode-typed articles at bhashaindia@yahoo.com. Do not send photographs or PDF files of articles, as they are difficult to process.
8. Along with the article, the officer’s photograph and brief profile will be published. Please provide a 100-word introduction, photograph, email ID, phone number, and address. If you do not wish to publish your email or phone number, clearly mention this next to the respective details.
9. The authors reserve the right to make necessary edits. In some cases, articles may need to be rewritten to maintain uniformity with others. Editorial rights will rest with the authors, and their decision will be final and binding.
10. Selection of articles will be done by the authors on the basis of merit. Contributors will be informed via email or phone. Information regarding selected articles and publication will be shared by the authors.
11. Articles that cannot be included in the book will be published on www.indiacrime.com, with prior intimation.
12. For convenience, please write the email subject line as: Custom Saga
13. If you have photographs related to the case, please share them via email along with the article in JPEG or PNG format, with a minimum resolution of 300 DPI or 1080 megapixels. Please also mention the photographer’s name. If the photographs are from a newspaper or magazine, mention the source clearly, as publishing copyrighted images without permission may lead to legal issues.
14. The book will be published in Hindi and English. An e-book version will also be released.
15. Until the publication of the book, please do not submit the article to any personal or collective anthology.
16. Along with the article, please send a certificate stating that the work has not been included in any compilation. If it has been included elsewhere, attach a No Objection Certificate (NOC) in PDF format from the compiler/editor and publisher.
17. The book will be published by The India Inc.
18. Please ensure that your article, along with your consent, reaches us before the final deadline.
19. For any suggestions or advice, you may contact the authors directly.
20. There is no provision for honorarium or royalty for the articles.

Points to Keep in Mind While Writing the Article:

1. Choose an attractive and engaging title.
2. Use proper punctuation. In particular, for dialogues, use commas (not dashes) and double quotation marks. To highlight a word or phrase, use single quotation marks. To indicate an incomplete expression, use an ellipsis of exactly three dots, no more and no less.
3. Clarify ambiguous points to ensure clarity and readability.
4. Recheck facts, dates, places, and names carefully. Present facts as they were at the time, so that the period comes alive for the reader.
5. Ensure that the article does not demean human values, communities, or women in particular.
6. Do not use caste-based names or terms.
7. Avoid unnecessary repetition of facts, dates, or statements.
8. Use English words or sentences only when necessary. Wherever possible, provide the Hindi/Marathi meaning in brackets.
9. Avoid unnecessary expressions that add burden to the narrative.
10. Use standard spellings consistently (for example: kiye, laaye, jaaye instead of kiye, laaye, jaaye). Proofread carefully and maintain uniformity in spelling. We will include the use of nuqtas where appropriate, but use them only if you are confident.
11. Write numbers in words; use international numerals (1, 2, 3, etc.) only when necessary.

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