No report appears to have reached either the Durbar or the Resident,
of the atrocious proceedings of Rughbur Sing's agents at Busuntpoor,
where so many persons perished from torture, starvation, and
exposure; nor was any notice taken of them till I took charge of my
office in January 1849. Incha Sing had offered for the contract of
the two districts four lacs less than Rughbur Sing had pledged
himself to pay, and obtained it, and quietly superseded his nephew,
with whom he was on cordial good terms. Rughbur Sing went into the
British territory, to evade all demands for balances, and reside for
an interval, with the full assurance that he would be able to
purchase a restoration to favour and power in Oude, unless the
Resident should think it worth while to oppose him, which my
predecessor did not.* I had his agents arrested, and charges sent in
against them, with all the proofs accumulated, by Captain Orr; but
they all soon purchased their way out, and no one was punished. At my
suggestion the King proclaimed Rughbur Sing as an outlaw, and offered
three thousand rupees for his arrest, if he did not appear within
three months. He never appeared, but continued to carry on his
negociations for restoration to power at Lucknow, through the very
agents whom he had employed in the scenes above described, Beharee
Lal, Goureeshunker, Kurum Hoseyn, Maharaj Sing, &c.
[* Incha Sing absconded before the end of the season, and has never
returned to Oude.
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