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| Bihar Police | |
|---|---|
 Bihar Police Insignia | |
| Common name | Bihar Police |
| Abbreviation | BP |
| Motto | उत्कृष्टता की यात्रा A Voyage of Excellence |
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | 1935 |
| Annual budget | ₹12,353 crore (US$1.5 billion) (2023-24)[1] |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| Operations jurisdiction | Bihar, IN |
 | |
| Map of Bihar State Police Jurisdiction. | |
| Governing body | Bihar Government |
| General nature | |
| Operational structure | |
| Headquarters | Sardar Patel Bhawan,Bailey Road,Patna |
| Elected officer responsible | |
| Agency executive |
|
| Child agency | |
| Website | |
| https://police.bihar.gov.in | |
TheBihar Police is thelaw enforcement agency for the state ofBihar,India, with its headquarters inPatna. As per official figures, Bihar Police has a sanctioned strength of 2,29,000 personnel, and as of 2024, it employs 1,10,000 personnel.[2][3]
The presentDGP of Bihar Police is Vinay Kumar, an IPS officer of 1991 batch.[4]
There is historical evidence of the adoption of intensive policing practices in the Magadh empire more than 2,000 years ago, where the head of police was known as Dandapala. His main role was to maintain law and order in the society while implementing harsh injunctions ofArthashastra to collect taxes and suppress rebellions.
Modern policing in Bihar started in 1862 under the provisions of thePolice Act, 1861. After Bihar was carved out as an independent province in 1912 from Bengal, the basic structure of police was created as it exists today. After its major reorganization several pre-eminent police officers adorned pre-independent Bihar Police Force. These included Mr. Walter Swain of Swain Beat system fame, Shri AK Sinha, the first Indian to become an IGP of any province,Shri BN Mullick, the second director of theIntelligence Bureau (IB),Khan Bahadur Azizul Haque, credited with the primary development of the famous ‘1024 pigeon holes’ cabinet system eventually named after his supervisor, Sir Edward Richard Henry.[5]
Post independence, Bihar Police led innovative policing measures, such as the creation of a Police Welfare fund, Police Hospitals and Police Information Room (PIR) in 1952. Bihar Policemen's Association, which looks after the interests of policemen, was one of the first police welfare associations in all of India in 1967. A Police Commission was also set up in 1958, whose mandate was to bring the police closer to the people.[5]Patna Police got its new headquarter Sardar Patel Bhavan,Bailey Road in 2018.[6] The seven storied building with a helipad at the top is spread over almost 53,000 sqft area. Prior to this, police headquarter of Bihar Police was located at theold secretariat building since 1917.
Bihar Police comes under the direct control of the Department of Home Affairs,Government of Bihar.It has six divisions under the organizational structure, namely, Human Resource Development and Training Division (TRG), Law & Order Division (L & O), Establishment and Legal Division, Personnel and Welfare Division, Headquarter (DGP Office) and Budget Division (HQRT), and Modernization, Crime Records and Provision Division (SCRB &Mod). These are headed by four Additional Director General (ADGP), where ADGP (HQRT) has an additional charge of Welfare division, and ADGP (L & O) with that of Establishment and Legal Division.[5] The Training division is headed by DGP (Training), while the latter five are headed by Director General (DGP).
For geographic workload distribution, the state is divided into 12 ranges, each range consisting of 2 to 5 districts. The central range (Patna), Magadh range (Gaya), Tirhut range (Muzaffarpur), Mithila range (Darbhanga) and Purnia range are headed by IG rank officers, while other seven ranges are headed by DIG rank officers. Each district is commanded by a Superintendent of Police (SP), where as Patna is under a Senior Superintendent of Police.[5]
Earlier, the state also had a zonal division into four police zones. Introduced in 1982, each zone consisted of two to four ranges, and was headed by an IG level officer. This system was abolished in 2019, and only rail police zone continues to exist.[7]
List of 12 Police Ranges and Police Districts in Bihar is as follows:
| Sr No | Police Range | Police Districts |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Begusarai range | Begusarai & Khagaria |
| 2. | Champaran range | East Champaran, West Champaran & Bagaha |
| 3. | Eastern range | Bhagalpur, Banka & Naugachhia |
| 4. | Central range | Patna & Nalanda |
| 5. | Mithila range | Darbhanga, Madhubani & Samastipur |
| 6. | Munger range | Jamui, Lakhisarai, Munger & Sheikhpura |
| 7. | Magadh range | Arwal, Aurangabad, Jehanabad, Nawada & Gaya |
| 8. | Purnia range | Araria, Katihar, Kishanganj & Purnia |
| 9. | Kosi range | Madhepura, Saharsa & Supaul |
| 10. | Saran range | Saran, Siwan & Gopalganj |
| 11. | Shahabad range | Bhojpur, Buxar, Kaimur & Rohtas |
| 12. | Tirhut range | Muzaffarpur, Sheohar, Sitamarhi & Vaishali |
Officers
Sub-ordinates
An initiative inCommunity Policing for the safety of Women. The CID Branch of Bihar Police under the Leadership of Alok Raj (IPS) ADG in association with Mr. Roushan Kumar and Dr. Suman Lal founders Ladli Foundation came up with the concept of having Women Community Police to provide a safe and secure atmosphere to the inhabitants. Also to make women become familiar with Police and deeply understand the police system to invoke their taboo to interact with police station/ policemen. For this initiative, volunteer from girls studying in different colleges of Patna were identified and trained. Each of these girls were provided with ID Cards authorised byBihar Police and are called Ladli Cops.[8]
In contrast with several states, the Bihar Police has been notoriously condemned for corruption, colluding with mafias and criminal gangs, political influence and interference, and old school mindset.[9][10] Bihar has also been noted to have the lowest police to population ratio of 81 per 100,000 people, which is quite below the national level of 155 while sanctioned strength is 198, and even way below UN recommendations of 222.[11] As policing is a state responsibility, Bihar Police still follows the colonial and archaicPolice Act of 1861, which has negatively impacted law and order, investigations, and led to police brutality.
The Bihar Police was notoriously involved in the1980 Bhagalpur blindings, where acid was poured into the eyes of 31 individuals, either convicted or undertrial. The incident was widely discussed, debated and acutely criticised by several human rights organizations. Given the extreme misconduct, the Supreme Court of India ordered compensation to the victims for violation of basic human rights.[12]
During the tenure ofLalu Prasad Yadav as Chief Minister, he interfered in policing of entire state to prevent any cases against the political leaders as well as party workers. Yadav was also responsible for preventing police reforms.[13]
Furthermore, during Yadav's tenure as Chief Minister, Bihar's law and order was at lowest,[14][15] kidnapping was on rise and private armies mushroomed.[16] He was also criticized by opposition in theShilpi-Gautam Murder case and the death of his daughter Ragini Yadav's friend, Abhishek Mishra, in mysterious circumstances - both cases were heavily covered up by Bihar Police on Yadav's orders, the former of which prompted an investigation from theCBI.[17][18] Yadav attempted to also influence theFodder Scam investigations, which was subsequently later taken over by theCBI and led to his conviction.[19]
All the equipment of the Bihar Police are manufactured indigenously by theIndian Ordnance Factories controlled by theOrdnance Factories Board, Ministry of Defence, Government of India.
Today, the force has expanded with 2,29,000 sanctioned positions and a fleet of 11,000 vehicles," he said while inaugurating the Bihar Police Week celebrations at the police headquarters (PHQ) in Sardar Patel Bhawan
मौजूदा समय में बिहार में 1.10 लाख पुलिसकर्मी हैं। (translation: At present, there are 1.10 lakh police personnel in Bihar.
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