Did you know great qawwali maestro Amjad Sabri managed to win the hearts of a notorious gang of armed robbers during a late-night stop for tea in India’s Jhansi?

According to Sabri’s son, Mujadid, his father had performed a lengthy show in Jhansi that ran several hours longer than expected. But this meant that Sabri and his crew had to venture out onto the streets of Jhansi late at night, a time when the city is known to be teeming with armed robbers.

“All the locals warned him not to venture out at that time of the night since Jhansi is notorious for being thickly populated with armed robbers,” recalled Mujadid in a recent podcast of Nadir Ali. “But he and the rest of his crew went anyway, and stopped at a dhaba for some tea.”

Little did Sabri know, the very armed robbers he had been cautioned about were among the customers at the late-night tea stall. Coincidentally, they were playing a qawwali by Amjad’s own father, Ghulam Farid. Upon recognising the qawwali singer, the gang members immediately sprang into action to ensure Sabri’s safety.

“They had their guns strapped on and everything!” Mujadid added. “But as soon as they realised my father was there, they came over and said it wasn’t safe at this time of the night, so they would accompany him wherever he needed to go, for their own security!”

True to their word, the gang of armed robbers escorted Sabri and his team for the remainder of their journey.