Ex-Delhi CP chronicles story of Delhi Police

Citizen-friendly policing adopted by Delhi Police in 1984 proved to be a watershed moment for the force after the serious loss of face due to the assassination of the then prime minister Indira Gandhi, says a new book which chronicles its journey.

IPS officer Suvashis Choudhary, who recently retired as Delhi Police Joint Commissioner (South Range), has penned his debut book "Capital Cops: The Unofficial Guide to Delhi Police".

Choudhary says his book, replete with several nuggets of information, aims to eliminate the lack of awareness about the police organisation by demystifying it so that citizens and also scholars, writing on police, have a fair idea of its strengths and vulnerabilities.

He says that Delhi Police was perhaps the first police force in the country to realise the importance of seeking public cooperation and inculcating awareness among the people of not only their rights, but also their responsibilities.

He terms this a smart strategy adopted in the late 1980s as it created awareness about the limitations of police and the constraints under which Delhi Police works.

"Having just recovered from the ignominy of the tumultuous event of 1984 anti-Sikh riots and still grappling with terrorist violence in the aftermath of operation Blue Star, Delhi Police adopted a new motto 'With you, for you, always' and with it a new vision of citizen-friendly policing," Choudhary writes in his book, published by Har-Anand Publications.

"This was a watershed moment for Delhi Police. After the serious loss of face suffered in 1984 by the assassination of the then prime minister, Indira Gandhi, by her Delhi Police bodyguards and the riots which followed, the initiatives proved to be quite strategically timed," he says.

According to him, it was also a smart move for another reason. "It coincided with the strengthening of the human rights movement in India making Delhi Police one of the early adherents. The use of third-degree method, used allegedly by police forces to extract confession and solve cases, became passé and no longer acceptable. Scientific methods of investigation had to be adopted."

Talking about other measures, he says, "The institution of Special Police Officer (SPO) was energised. SPOs were actively involved in crime prevention as well as law-and-order duties. Apart from one-off events like 'open days' at police stations, quizzes and competitions for children were organized. Alcohol and drug de-addiction camps as well as other citizen-friendly events became permanent fixtures in Delhi Police's calendar."

Choudhary says from Kotwal, during the Delhi Sultanate to Police Commissioner in the present era, Delhi Police has come a long way.

He then goes on to cite several interesting pieces of information.

The earliest recorded police officer called the Kotwal was appointed during the reign of Alauddin Khilji (1296-1316).

Later, in 1648 with the shifting of the Mughal capital from Agra to Delhi, a Kotwal was appointed to oversee the administration of Shahjahanabad, as Delhi was then called.

The Kotwal sitting at the police station called Kotwali was the main officer entrusted with the administration of the city and this arrangement continued till the arrival of the British in Delhi in the early 19th century.

He also writes that at the time of the First war of Indian Independence of 1857, there were several other police stations besides Kotwali, namely Paharganj, Badarpur, Alipur and a police post at Yamuna Bridge.

During those tumultuous days, Police Station Kotwali, situated at Chandni Chowk, was a nerve centre of activities. In the immediate aftermath of the rebellion, it was a scene of executions of the rebels.

"The modern police force that we know today was set up under the Police Act of 1861. Five police stations, viz. Subzi Mandi, Nangloi, Mehrauli, Sadar Bazar and Kotwali, were created in the same year.

"The first ever First Information Report (FIR) was registered in PS Subzi Mandi on October 18, 1861, which, perhaps, marks the beginning of the modern criminal justice system in Delhi," the book says.