LAW, ORDER AND JUSTICE

POLICE DEPARTMENT.

POLICE. Functions.

The primary functions of the police are prevention and detection of crime, maintenance of law and order, apprehension of offenders, escorting and guarding of prisoners, treasure or private or public property of which they may be placed in-charge, and prosecution of criminals. They have, however, various other duties to perform, such as control and regulation of traffic, serving of summonses and warrants in criminal cases, inspection of explosive and poison shops and extinguishing fires and such other duties as giving aid to displaced persons and pilgrims, verification of character, passport and naturalisation inquiries, etc.

Organisation.

Under Section 4 of the Bombay Police Act (XXII of 1951) the superintendence of the police force throughout the State vests in and is exercisable by the State Government. In exercise of the powers conferred upon it by Section 6 of the said Act, the State Government appoints the Inspector-General of Police for the direction and supervision of the police force. The inspector-General of Police whose headquarters is at Bombay, is thus the head of the police force in the State. It is the province of the Inspector-General of Police to watch over the recruitment, education, housing and equipment of the police force, to regulate its internal organisation and method of working and to look after the welfare of the police force. He is assisted in his office by three Assistant Inspectors-General of Police (who are officers of the rank of a Superintendent of Police) and the Superintendent of Police, State Traffic Branch who is ex-officio Assistant Inspector-General of Police.

For the purpose of administration, Maharashtra State is divided into four police ranges, viz., Bombay, Poona, Nagpur and Aurangabad, besides three Commissionerates of Greater Bombay, Poona and Nagpur. In Greater Bombay, the Commissioner of Police who is second in the police hierarchy is in-charge of the Greater Bombay police force. The Commissioners of Police in-charge of the Nagpur and Poona Commissionerates are of the rank of Deputy Inspector-General of Police. The State C.I.D. is divided into two branches, viz., (i) Intelligence and (ii) crime and Railways, each under a Deputy Inspector-General. Both the Deputy Inspectors-General are assisted by one or more assistants of the rank of a Superintendent of Police and a number of Deputy Superintendents of Police, Inspectors, Sub-Inspectors and Head Constables. There are Criminal Investigation units at important places in the State, each under a Deputy Superintendent of Police assisted by the necessary subordinate staff. The State Reserve Police Force Groups are under the Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Armed Forces. The Police Training College, Nasik, the Regional Police Training Schools at Khandala, Jalna and Nagpur and the Motor Transport and Wireless Organisations are under the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Training and Special Units, Bombay.

Each range in the State which is in-charge of a Range Deputy Inspector-General is sub-divided into districts corresponding to the revenue districts and every such district is placed in-charge of a Superintendent of Police. Under Section 17 (1) of the Bombay Police Act, the District Magistrate has control over the Superintendent of Police and the police force of the district concerned in matters of policy and administration of law within the district but he cannot and does not interfere with questions of recruitment, internal economy or organisation of the district police force.

The Superintendent of Police is the executive head of the police force in the district. His primary duties are to keep the force under his control properly trained, efficient and contented and to ensure, by constant supervision, the proper and effective prevention, investigation and detection of crime in his district.

Each district in turn is divided into two or three sub-divisions. Each sub-division is placed under the charge of a Sub-Divisional Police Officer who is of the rank of an Assistant Superintendent of Police or Deputy Superintendent of Police and who is responsible for the prevention, investigation and detection of crime in the sub-division in his charge. Subject to the general orders of the District Superintendent of Police, he is responsible for the efficiency and discipline of 'the officers and men in his division. He has to hold detailed inspection of police stations and out-posts in his charge at regular intervals.

Each sub-division has one or more Circle Police Inspectors who are entrusted with the task of detection of crime and supervision of had characters and gangs in their circles. The supervision and co-ordination of the detection work of different police stations in the circles is also entrusted to the Circle Inspectors.

At the district headquarters, the District Superintendent of Police is assisted by an Inspector who is called the Home Inspector. He is more or less a personal assistant to the District Superintendent of Police and supervises the work of the Superintendent's office. He also carries out the same duties at the headquarters during the absence of the District Superintendent of Police and the Sub-Divisional Officer. In case of bigger districts, the local intelligence branches (district special branches) and local crime branches have separate or independent inspectors.

Each district sub-division is divided into a number of police stations each such police station being kept in charge of a Sub-Inspector of Police. The Sub-Inspector is responsible for the prevention, investigation and detection of crime within the area in his charge and for seeing that the orders of his superiors are carried our and the discipline of the police under him is properly maintained. He has, under him, the required number of Head Constables and Constables. The Head Constables report to the Sub-Inspector all crimes in their beats and assist him in the investigation and detection of those crimes. When in-charge of a particular post or circle of villages, the Head Constables act in all police matters in co-operation with the heads of the village police. When attached to police stations, the Head Constables hold the charge of the stations in the absence of the Sub-Inspector and attend to all routine work including investigation of crime. The Constables perform such duties as may be entrusted to them by the Sub-Inspectors and the Head Constables.

The control and administration of the Railway Police is vested in the Superintendent of Police who has a parallel organisation on the lines of the District Police. He functions under the supervision and control of the Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Crime and Railways (Criminal Investigation Department), Maharashtra State, Poona and the Inspector-General of Police.

Anti-Corruption and Prohibition Intelligence Bureau.

With a view to eradicating the evils of corruption and for a more effective implementation of the prohibition policy of the Government, the Anti-Corruption and Prohibition Intelligence Bureau has been created under the control of the Deputy Inspector-General of Police designated as Director, Anti-Corruption and Prohibition Intelligence Bureau, Maharashtra State, with headquarters at Bombay. The Bureau has its offices in all the districts and has four units with headquarters at Bombay, Poona, Aurangabad and Nagpur each in-charge of a Deputy Superintendent of Police. The unit for Greater Bombay is in-charge of a Deputy Commissioner of Police.

State Reserve Police Force.

With a view to strengthening the Armed Forces, which may be required at any place in the State to deal with any serious disturbance and other similar emergency, the State Reserve Police Force, trained more or less on military lines and equipped with modern weapons, has been organised under the Bombay State Reserve Police Force Act, 1951 (Bombay Act No. XXXVIII of 1951), and stationed in groups at important centres in the State. Each group is under the control of a Commandant (who is an officer of the rank of a Superintendent of Police assisted by the necessary staff of officers of different ranks. The groups are provided with wireless and motor transport sections.

Training Institutions.

The Police Training College, Nasik, provides the initial training for officers of and above the rank of Sub-Inspector, and con- ducts refresher training course for qualified Head Constables in the duties of Police Sub-Inspector. It is under the charge of a Principal, who is of the rank of a Superintendent of Police. He is assisted by a Deputy Superintendent of Police designated as Vice-Principal and by the necessary number of Police Inspectors, Police Prosecutors, Sub-Inspectors and Head Constables who are employed as instructors.

Regional Police Training Schools at Khandala, jalna and Nagpur impart training for Unarmed Constables and are in-charge of Principals, who are of the rank of Deputy Superin-tendents of Police. The Principals are assisted by the necessary staff of Inspectors, Police Prosecutors and others.

Recruits of the Greater Bombay Police are trained at the Police Training School, Naigaum, which is headed by an Assistant Commissioner of Police.

Women Police Branch.

Women police branches exist in Greater Bombay, Poona and Nagpur cities and in some of the important districts including railway police districts. The main functions of this branch are to help in the recovery of abducted women, to attend to the convenience and complaints of female passengers at important railway stations, to apprehend and search female offenders, to help in the administration of the Bombay Children Act and the Suppression of Immoral Traffic in Women and Girls Act. to man the police telephone exchanges, to keep vigilance at places of worship or public entertainment, etc. They also help the senior Police officers at the time of holding inquest on dead bodies of women.

Arms Inspection Branch.

There is an arms inspection branch consisting of an Inspector of Police and the necessary subordinate staff to undertake periodical inspection of the police arms and to ensure their proper maintenance. The branch is under the control of the Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Armed Forces.

Motor Transport,

A motor transport section for the whole State under the control of a Superintendent of Police designated as Superintendent of Police, Motor Transport is organised for maintaining a fleet of motor vehicles and water craft for police duties. It consists of (1) a district motor transport section at the headquarters of each district and each State Reserve Police Force group, (ii) the central motor transport workshop together with mobile units at Poona, Aurangabad and Nagpur; and (iii) the mobile repair unit for police water-craft with headquarters at Thana. The district and State Reserve Police Force motor transport sections which consist of motor vehicles and in some districts water-craft are under the administrative control of the Superintendents of  Police of the districts or the Commandants of the groups, as the  case may be, and under the technical supervision of the Superintendent of Police, Motor Transport.

Wireless Grid.

A wireless arid for the whole State under the control of a  Superintendent or Police designated as the Superintendent or Police, wireless, is organised for facilitating quick communication amongst the police units in this State and also with those in other States. The grid consists of high frequency wireless telegraphy circuits and radio telephone circuits frequency net work with static and mobile transportable stations and broad-cast service stations. There are wireless stations at the head-quarters of each district, State Reserve Police Force group and in the three Commissionerates of Greater Bombay, Poona and Nagpur. The wireless personnel in Bombay and those attached to the districts and State Reserve Police Force groups are under the administrative control of the Commissioners of Police, Superintendents of Police and the Commandants of the State Reserve Police Force groups concerned, respectively.

Recruitment.

Recruitment to the cadre of Assistant Superintendents of Police who belong to the Indian Police Service, is made by the Government of India on the recommendations of the Union Public Service Commission. They are attached to the National Police Academy, Abu, for a training period of one year duration and after successful completion of this training they are sent to the States concerned for further training. In the State, the probationers are attached to the Police Training College, Nasik, for three months and in the districts for practical training for nine months before they are given independent charges as Sub-Divisional Police Officers. An Assistant Superintendent of Police is considered eligible for promotion to a senior post in the Indian Police Service cadre after confirmation in the Indian Police Service in the vacancy in the direct recruitment quota.

Seventy per cent of the total number of appointments on the sanctioned cadre of Deputy Superintendents of Police are filled in by promotion from the lower ranks of the district police force and the remaining 30 per cent by direct recruitment which is made by the State Government from candidates recommended by the Maharashtra Public Service Commission. Candidates appointed by direct recruitment are attached to the Police Training College, Nasik, for training and are kept on probation for a Police is considered eligible for promotion to a senior post in years of their probationary period, they are required to pass departmental examinations prescribed by Government.

After their training for one year at the Police Training College, they are required to undergo military training for five weeks and thereafter practical training in the districts for the remaining period of the probation. They are considered for promotion to Indian Police Service cadre after they put in eight years' service as Deputy Superintendents of Police. Appointment of Inspectors of Police are made by the Inspector-General of Police from amongst the Sub-Inspectors of Police who are found fit for promotion by the Selection Board comprising the Inspector-General of Police as the Chairman and Commissioner of Police and Deputy Inspector-General of Police as members. No direct recruitment is ordinarily made to the posts of Inspectors of Police.

Recruitment of Sub-Inspectors is made by the Inspector-General of Police both by promotion of officers from the lower ranks of the district police force and by direct recruitment. 50 per cent of the vacancies are filled in by direct recruitment. Of the remaining 50 per cent, 25 per cent of the vacancies are filled in by departmental candidates passing through the Police Sub-Inspector's course at the Police Training College, Nasik, and the remaining 25 per cent by promotion of officers from lower ranks.

Candidates for direct recruitment may be either from outside the police or from the police department. These candidates are in the first instance, selected for training in the Police Training College, Nasik, as Police Sub-Inspectors. The selection is made by the Inspector-General of Police assisted by a Committee consisting of the Commissoner of Police, Bombay, a Deputy Inspector-General of Police and the Principal, Police Training College, Nasik.

The Police Constables are recruited directly and the Head Constables generally from the rank of Constables. However to attract better men, recruitment of Head Constables is made direct from qualified candidates up to one-third of the vacancies.

The Chandrapur district is divided into two sub-divisions viz., (1) Chandrapur division and (2) Brahmapuri division with headquarters at Chandrapur and Brahmapuri respectively. Each sub-division is headed by a Sub-Divisional Police Officer. There are 25 regular police stations and 18 out-posts in the district. Out of these 25 police stations, one is city/town police station, 5 tahsil police stations and 19 other police stations. There is an armed headquarters at Chandrapur.

Strength.

The strength of the district police force which was 567 in 1956 steadily increased to 1,103 in 1964. The composition of the police force in 1964 was as under:-

Literacy.

The expenditure on the establishment of the district for the  year 1964 was Rs. 19,83,468. The ratio of police to area and  population worked out to one policeman per 23.68 k.m.² and  1,122 persons.

Armament.

Of the total strength of 53 officers and 1,050 men in Chandrapur district at the close of the year 1964, 11 men were illiterate.

The armament of the Chandrapur district police in 1964 consisted of 3 Thompson machine Carbines, 353 rifles of.303 bore, 358 muskets of.410 bore, 59 revolvers of.455 bore and.38 bore for the use of Police and 8 rifles of.22 bore for imparting training to the public in rifle shooting. A tear smoke squad consisting of 2 head constables and 10 constables has been formed for the district.

The district had a fleet of 11 motor vehicles in 1964.

In 1964, the district had a wireless station and also a mobile set at the police headquarters at Chandrapur. There were also static wireless stations one each at Sironcha, Yetapalli, Dhanora, Purda and Bhadrawati. Besides, two temporary static stations are installed every year at Gadhchiroli and Sasti during the rainy season as these places become inaccessible during the monsoons due to flooded rivers and nallahs.

Crime,

The following statement shows the crime reported to Chandrapur police during the year 1964 and the preceding four years:-

The important crimes reported during the year 1964 and the preceding four years were as under: -

The incidence of the reported cognizable crimes per thousand population of the district during the quinquennium 1960-64 was as under: -

Prosecuting staff and Prosecutions.

In 1964 there were six Police Prosecutors in the district. They conducted prosecution of police cases in Magisterial Courts. The total number of cases conducted by the Police Prosecutors during the year 1964 was 1,896. The prosecuting Jamadars conduct minor cases.

Village Police.

At the village level the district police are helped by the village police. Under the Bombay Village Police Act (VIII of 1867), the control of the village police is with the District Magistrate. The District Magistrate may, however, delegate any of his powers to the Superintendent of Police. Each inhabited village has a police patil. The police patil is required to collect information regarding suspicious strangers and important occurrences in the village and send it to the police station. He has to keep a strict watch over the movements of notorious characters under surveil-lance of the police. He is also required to give information to the police station of any offence committed in the village. When a beat duty policeman goes to the village, the police patil has to give him all the information he possesses about all events in the village. The police patil is also responsible for maintaining law and order in the village.

In 1964, the number of the village police including police patils was 2,335.

Home Guards.

The Home Guards is a voluntary body organised under the Bombay Home Guards Act (III of 1947), and is intended to augment the ordinary police force in emergency in relation to the protection of persons, security of property and public safety and such other services to the public as they may be called upon to perform. It is especially a civilian body but is never-the-less bound by discipline of a standard equal to that of the police. The district unit of the Home Guards organisation consists of a Commandant who is assisted by several subordinate officers in command of divisions, companies, platoons, sections, etc. Appointments of Home Guards are made by the District Commandant from amongst the persons who are fit and willing to serve as Home Guards, and appointments of officers are made after a period of service in the ranks and on consideration of the capabilities of the Home Guards concerned. Home Guards are initially trained in lathi, weapons, control of traffic, prohibition and excise laws, first-aid, mob fighting, guard and escort drill,  etc. A Home Guard gets powers, privileges and obligations  under the Home Guards Act and the rules made thereunder  only when called out for duty on special occasions. At other  times, a Home Guard is on the same footing as an ordinary  citizen. When he is called out to aid the police he gets duty  allowance as admissible according to the orders of Government.

In 1964, the Home Guards Organization of Chandrapur district consisted of the District Commandant, Staff Officers and 2,849 Home Guards (2,744 males and 105 females). The units were functioning at various places in the district.

Village Defence Parties. Housing.

There were no Village Defence Parties in the district in 1964.  Officers of and below the rank of Police Inspectors are entitled  to rent-free quarters. In 1964, out of 50 officers and 1,050 men.  38 officers and 410 men were housed in Government quarters.  The remaining officers and men lived in private buildings on hire.

During 1964, 18 constables' quarters were built in this district.

Police Welfare.

The district police has its own welfare fund. The fund is financed by subscriptions from the members of the police department of the district except the clerks whose monthly emoluments are over Rs. 150 and class IV servants. Special performances of shows, etc., are also held in aid of welfare. Numerous facilities such as medical aid provided through the police dispensary, freeships to school-going children and monetary help for purchase of hooks, monetary assistance to the widows of the policemen to cover funeral expenses and their journey to their native places, children's park, balak mandir for children, sewing class for ladies and sports are made available to the members of the police force. There is a Government mess and canteen at the police headquarters at Chanda.

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