Agra: Firoz Khan alias Bunty, a hardened criminal who has been awarded life imprisonment in a kidnapping case and is presently lodged in Agra central jail, has proved that anything can be cleaned with soaps, even a prisoner’s conscience.

After being depressed in his initial days in jail, the 35-year-old started crafting idols out of soaps, the only malleable material available in his cell. He mostly carves idols of Hindu gods, including Durga, Ganesh and Laxmi. Impressed with his talent, the jail authorities have decided to showcase his creations at right forums.

However, his fellow inmates in prisoners have to pay a price for Bunty’s hobby. Every morning, they look for soaps while he gets busy crafting something new with them.

Lodged in Agra central jail since December 2014, he has made a dozen of beautiful idols, including Hanuman’s mace, an idol of Bharat Mata, goddess Durga and Ashokan pillar too. This year, he prepared one foot tall idols of Lakshmi and Ganesh, which will be used for Diwali Puja in the jail this year.

“I kidnapped a businessman from Etah in 2001. My five other friends were also involved. But they managed to trick the court and I failed. All the others were freed while the judge awarded me life imprisonment in September 2010,” said Firoz.

According to him, he was depressed when he began his jail term in 2010. “In the time of loneliness, I met a fellow prisoner who was a follower of goddess Durga. He enlightened me and showed me the right path which is to seek forgiveness from the lord. I used my bathing bar provided to me by the jail administration and made a small statue of the goddess. Within a few days, I started stealing all the soaps to satisfy my creative urge,” he said.

“We do not go anywhere except Firoz’s barrack if we couldn’t find our soaps. We know, there is just one soap thief in the jail,” said Ravi, his best friend in Agra central jail.

Firoz’s art has impressed all other inmates as well jail authorities who have decided to promote his talent.

“He is brilliant. We are all surprised how he did this. He sit in a corner for hours. He made a mistake in his youth but he must be given a chance to correct it,” said jailor Lal Ratnakar Singh.

Singh claimed that he has contacted two NGOs to promote Firoz’s talent.

“The NGOs will bring people who are interested in getting artefacts prepared by Firoz. We have already sent a few pieces to people who wanted more. If all goes well, he will soon get contracts to prepare these,” the jailor said.

(This appeared in The Times of India on Nov. 10, 2015)