| Kolkata Police Force কলকাতা আরক্ষা বাহিনী | |
|---|---|
 Crest of Kolkata Police | |
 Badge of Kolkata Police | |
 Flag of Kolkata Police | |
| Abbreviation | KP/KPF; ক: পু |
| Motto | "With You – Always" (Bengali:তোমার সহিত – সর্বদা) |
| Agency overview | |
| Formed | 1856; 169 years ago (1856) |
| Annual budget | ₹4,390.722crore (US$519.3 million)(2025–26)[1] |
| Jurisdictional structure | |
| Operations jurisdiction | Kolkata,West Bengal, India |
 | |
| Kolkata Police Jurisdiction Area | |
| Size | 204.77 sq mi (530.4 km2) |
| Population | 62,80,544 (within 200.71 km**) |
| Legal jurisdiction | As per operations jurisdiction |
| Governing body | Department of Home and Hill Affairs,Government of West Bengal |
| Constituting instrument | |
| General nature | |
| Operational structure | |
| Headquarters | 18, Lalbazar Street,Kolkata: 700001 |
| Police officers | 37,400[2] |
| Police Commissioner responsible |
|
| Divisions | 10
|
| Facilities | |
| Police Stations | 91[4] |
| Cars & Bikes | 4000+[5] |
| Dogs | 39[6] |
| Website | |
www | |
TheKolkata Police (Bengali:কলকাতা পুলিশ) (formerly "Calcutta Police") is theterritorial police force responsible forlaw enforcement andcrime prevention within themetropolitan area of the city ofKolkata,West Bengal. It is one of the two primary police forces in West Bengal, the other being theWest Bengal Police.
The main operational area covered by the Kolkata Police is the Kolkata Metropolitan Region, excluding the neighbouring cities ofHowrah (covered by theHowrah City Police),Barrackpore (covered by theBarrackpore City Police),Chandannagar (covered by theChandannagar City Police) and the neighbouring locality ofNew Town (covered by theBidhannagar City Police)
The primary functions of the Kolkata Police Force are maintaining law and order in the city, traffic management, prevention and detection of crime and co-ordinating various citizen-centric services for the people of Kolkata. As of 2024[update], Kolkata Police has ten divisions covering 91 police stations. It has a strength of approximately 37,400 and a territorial jurisdiction ofc. 530.34 km2 (204.77 sq mi). In addition to general policing, the Kolkata Police has several specialist branches and nine battalions of the Armed Police.
The Kolkata Police has often faced criticism from the public for targeting political critics, while performing Government duties under the command of Govt. of West Bengal. The force encountered accusations of being complicit inR G Kar rape case, which led to heavy protests. Furthermore, the traffic department has been slammed for anti-bicycle policies, by enforcing a blanket ban on bicycles on several thoroughfares for traffic flow and impounding bicycles for violating the ban, besides corruption and bribery when collecting penalties from bicyclists who violate or defy the ban.
The history of the present structure of policing inKolkata goes back to East India company times, when the city was known as "Calcutta", and was an early settlement of theEnglish East India Company. Calcutta was founded on the eastern banks of theHooghly by an Englishman,Job Charnock in 1690. Policing in Calcutta's earliest days was confined to theMughal administration and their local representatives. Bengal was still technically a part of the Mughal Empire, but theNawabs of Bengal, based inMurshidabad inNorthern South Bengal, were its effective rulers. The watch and ward functions were entrusted to aKotwal or town prefect who had 45 peons under him, armed with traditional weapons like staves andspears, to deal with miscreants.[7]
In 1720, the East India Company formally appointed an officer to be in charge of civil and criminal administration. He was assisted by an Indian functionary commonly known asblack deputy orblack zamindar. Under him were three naib-dewans, one of whom was in charge of the police. The settlement was divided into "thanas" (police stations) under "thanadars" who had in turn contingents of "naiks" and "paiks". A small contingent of river police was also formed. A statute passed in 1778 raised the strength of the police in Calcutta to 700 paiks, 31 thanadars and 34 naibs under asuperintendent. In 1785 commissioners of conservancy were appointed for the town who also looked after watch and ward. Policing was still very loosely organised. In 1794, justices of peace were appointed for themunicipal administration of Calcutta and itssuburbs, under a chiefmagistrate who was directly in charge of the Police. In 1806 justices of peace were constituted as magistrates of24 Parganas and parts of the adjacent districts within a 20-mile radius of the town.[8]
The middle decades of the 19th century witnessed a greater systematisation and institutionalisation of policing in Calcutta. A city magistrate named William Coats Blacquiere inaugurated a network of spies orgoendas (Bengali:গোয়েন্দা). In 1845 a committee under J.H. Patton brought about key changes in police organisation which now began to be modelled on theLondon Metropolitan Police. A Commissioner of Police was appointed with powers of a justice of peace to preserve law and order, detect crime and apprehend offenders. In 1856 theGovernor-General promulgated an Act treating theCalcutta Police as a separate organisation and S. Wauchope, who was then the chief magistrate of Calcutta, was appointed as the first Commissioner of Police.[9]
1857 was a difficult time for the English East India Company. The year saw the firstupsurge against British rule. The rebellion led to the dissolution of the East India Company in 1858. It also led the British to reorganise the army, the financial system and the administration in India.[10] The country was thereafter directly governed by thecrown as the newBritish Raj. Commissioner Wauchope handled the situation ably and wasknighted for his achievement. During the incumbency of his successor V.H. Schalch the Calcutta Police Act and the Calcutta Suburban Police Act were enacted in 1866.
In 1868,Sir Stuart Hogg set up the Detective Department in Calcutta Police with A. Younan as the superintendent and R. Lamb as the first-class inspector. Hogg was both the Commissioner of Police and the Chairman of theCalcutta Municipal Corporation. SirFrederick James Halliday, who was appointed as the Commissioner of Police in 1906, also introduced several changes in the administration of Calcutta Police including the system of running a Control Room. In response to the threat of the nationalist organisationAnushilan Samiti, Haliday oversaw the creation of theSpecial Branch in June 1909 on the recommendation ofSir Charles Augustus Tegart. For his numerous contributions to the growth of the city police, he is regarded as the father of modern Calcutta Police.[9]Sir Charles Augustus Tegart headed the Detective Department was the first cadre of theIndian Police (IP) force in the organisation. He reorganised the city police force and made it efficient. A highly decorated officer, he was the Commissioner of Police from 1923 to 1931 and was admired for keeping the city free from crime. However, he was unpopular withfreedom fighters and his encounters with revolutionaries are a part of popularBengali folklore. The same time saw the rise of threeBengali police officers named Ramgati Banerjee, Sukumar Sengupta andZakir Hussain. During theSalt March movement in 1930, the Calcutta Police was headed by Charles Tegart as Police Commissioner, Ramgati Banerjee as DC (South) and Sukumar Sengupta as DC (North). Later, Banerjee left his position and took up teaching as a profession, and Hussain left the job to become the First Inspector-General of East Pakistan. Sukumar Sengupta continued in the job to become the first Bengali Inspector General of Police, West Bengal soon after independence.
The colonial history of the Calcutta Police force was primarily repressive and anti-nationalist. AfterIndia gained independence from British rule in 1947, Calcutta Police was re-organised as an essential element of the Indian law enforcement agencies. Surendra Nath Chatterjee was the first Indian Commissioner of Police. As of 2024, Kolkata Police has ten divisions covering 91 police stations. It has a strength of approximately 37,400 and a territorial jurisdiction ofc. 530.34 km2 (204.77 sq mi). There are nine battalions of armed forces as well as specialised branches.
The emblem of the Kolkata Police, as a vestige of the colonial era, signifies its heritage and allegiance, both of the past and the present, formerly to theBritish Crown and since 1947, to theIndian Union.
It comprises theMaltese Cross surrounded by theBrunswick star—also featured on the emblems of allBritish territorial police forces and in India, theGarhwal Rifles (formerly the Royal Garhwal Rifles) regiment of theIndian Army and theMadhya Pradesh Police. In the centre, theState Emblem is featured above the national motto—Satyameva Jayate—taken from theMundaka Upanishad.
As of 2024[update], Kolkata Police has ten divisions covering 91 police stations.[11] It has a strength of 37,400 approximately and a territorial jurisdiction of 530.34 km2 (204.77 sq mi). The commissioner is the chief of the Kolkata Police. The Commissioner is appointed by theGovernment of West Bengal and reports independently to the Home Minister of the State. The headquarters are at 18, Lalbazar Street, nearB.B.D. Bagh area in Central Kolkata. The Commissioner is anIndian Police Service officer of the rank of Additional DG & IG of Police. Manoj Kumar Verma is the present Commissioner. The State Government vests the Commissioner with the powers of a magistrate of First Class with limits within the suburbs of Kolkata. He has power to issue orders with his discretion.
|
|
|
The rank structure of the Kolkata Police, for the most part, resembles those of other Indian police forces. However, the ranks ofSergeant andSergeant-Major are unique to the force. They were originally established as direct-entry ranks reserved forEuropeans andAnglo-Indians during theBritish Raj, but were made available to Indians shortly after independence. Ronald Allen Moore, one of the finalAnglo-Indian officers of the Kolkata Police (the erstwhile Calcutta Police) joined the force in the rank of Sergeant, retiring in the 1960s as a Senior Deputy Commissioner. Soon after, the rank of Sergeant-Major fell out of use and was abolished for the majority of the force. Nevertheless, the Kolkata Mounted Police retains the rank to this day.
It is important to note that the ranks of Sergeant and Sergeant-Major were represented by three chevrons and the national emblem (both on the arms) respectively until the 1990s, much like aHavildar/Sergeant andCompany Havildar Major/Company Sergeant Major in theIndian Army, respectively. This made both ranks part of the non-commissioned officer group, and both ranks were belowAssistant Sub-Inspector. However, in the 1990s, force-wide reforms were instated to put Sergeants at higher authority as compared to Assistant Sub-Inspectors, and Sergeant-Major as higher authority as compared to Sub-Inspectors. However, the ranks of Sergeant-Major andSub-Inspector (both full and assistant) do not exist independently, as the Kolkata Mounted Police does not use the ranks of Sub-Inspector and Assistant Sub-Inspector, whereas other divisions do not use the rank of Sergeant-Major.
Also, unlike its counterparts in the rest of India, the Kolkata Police Force does not use the conventional five-pointed star for the insignia of ranks ofInspector andAssistant Commissioner. Instead, the four-pointed Star of theOrder of the Bath—used for officer ranks in theIndian Army from its inception till 1950 (when India became a republic and adopted the five-pointed star in place of the Bath star) and also in the militaries/police forces of theUnited Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Nations—or the 'pip' (as it is called colloquially in the United Kingdom and the modernCommonwealth of Nations) is used. The pip, largely a legacy of the colonial era, was used for all ranks of the force (from Inspector to Commissioner, then equated to aColonel instead of aLieutenant-General like today) until 1947, when new regulations stipulated that higher officers of the force (at and above the ranks of Deputy Commissioner) were to be drawn from theIndian Police Service (the erstwhile Imperial Police) instead of directly being selected from the lower and middle ranks of the force itself. Consequently, the five-pointed star used by the Imperial Police (and later the Army and all other services) came into use. However, it has remained as the rank insignia for Inspectors and Assistant Commissioners, as holders of those ranks are drawn from the force itself.
| Rank group | Indian Police Service | Kolkata Police | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  |  |  |  |  | |
| Commissioner of Police | Additional Commissioner of Police | Joint Commissioner of Police | Deputy Commissioner of Police | Assistant Commissioner of Police | Inspector | ||
| Equivalent instate police | Director-General of Police | Inspector-General of Police | Deputy Inspector-General of Police | Superintendent of Police | Deputy Superintendent of Police | ||
| NCOs | Enlisted | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  |  | No insignia |
| Sergeant Major | Sub-Inspector/Subedar/Wireless Supervisor | Sergeant | Assistant Sub-Inspector | Police Constable/Sepoy/Sowar/Syce |
The jurisdiction of the Kolkata Police covers the area ofKolkata District and an adjacent area as well. That adjacent area, like Kolkata District, is within the boundaries of theKolkata Municipal Corporation. The Kolkata Police's entire area comprises all 144 wards of the KMC.[15] In March 2009 Kolkata police took 17 police stations of North and South 24-Pargana district under its wing.[16] In September 2011 Kolkata police again extended their jurisdiction to 17 more police stations in the adjacent South 24-Parganas district in an effort to improve police service.[17] A major expansion took place in January 2024 with Kolkata Police acquiring charge of Bhangore area in South 24 Parganas forming the 10th and new Bhangore Division of the force along with a new Traffic Guard at Bhangore. This added 8 new police stations to area covered by Lal Bazar[18]
The Kolkata Police has a history of failure of laws and rules, as well as engaging in religious appeasement as per opinion of the opponent parties in West Bengal. The department has been severely criticized for being politically involved, along with targeting political critics and content creators.[22][23]
The Kolkata Police was criticized in the investigation of suicide ofRizwanur Rahman in September 2007, who was involved in an interfaith marriage with the daughter of businessmanAshok Todi. Several officers, including then commissionerPrasun Mukherjee, were involved in torturing Rahman after being in cahoots with Todi.[24] The case was subsequently transferred to theCBI after a State Government order.[25]
During the2024 elections, the cyber division of Kolkata Police issued warnings to 2X users to disclose their identity or face charges under Section 149 of CrPC, after posting a meme video ofTrinamool Congress leaderMamata Banerjee dancing.[26] However, the warning was rescinded and the tweet by the department was deleted, afterBJP leaderNarendra Modi retweeted the similar meme created by the users and found it entertaining.[27]
On 30 May 2025, following thePahalgam Terror attack and theretaliatory strikes, the Kolkata Police arrested law student and influencer Sharmistha Panoli inGurugram, after she posted a viral video which criticized Pakistan for its support towards Islamic terrorism and allegedly used disrespectful language towards the Islamic prophetMuhammad, prompting a backlash from the Islamic community across Muslim nations; Panoli claimed that some also issued death and rape threats to her.[28] The department faced backlash across various social media platforms, such asTwitter, for targeting her after an arrest warrant was issued against her for hurting religious sentiments, but not taking action against those who issued death and rape threats.[29] Subsequently, Panoli was granted bail, while her complainant, Wajahat Khan, who had a history of hurting religious sentiments of Hindus and hate speech, was arrested after absconding for days.[30][31]
On 16 August 2025, during the trailer launch ofThe Bengal Files at a Kolkata hotel, which was initially planned at a movie theatre, the screening was abruptly halted by Kolkata Police.[32] In response, directorVivek Agnihotri launched a scathing criticism against the West Bengal Government for stopping the screening for political reasons and labelled the action as dictatorship, despite being approved by theCBFC.[33] Subsequently, senior officers of the department stated that Agnihotri did not have the permission for the screening.[34]
The Kolkata Police has been infamously known for its anti-bicycle policies by enforcing arbitrary rules. The department began to impose blanket bans on bicycles on major roads and throughfares since 2008.[35] The ban has been imposed to improve traffic flows, and violation of such bans has led to imposing a fine of Rs 100-300 or seizing of bicycles, along with harassment of riders at the hands of police officials. There have been protests against such bans, as bicycles have neither caused traffic congestion by traffic experts, nor the ban was approved by the State Government.[36] The fines imposed against bicyclists do not conform to the violations in theMotor Vehicles Act, as the Act does not mention any penalties against bicyclists. Furthermore, traffic officers who impose penalties issue small slips, which are chits of plain paper a little bigger than postage stamps, with a traffic police stamp, which incensed corruption and bribery.[37] As a result of the ban, Public Interest Litigations were filed in the Kolkata High Court in 2014 against the traffic police department, which subsequently reduced the ban of bicycles from 174 to 62 thoroughfares following the court's intervention.[38] Despite not being mandated in the Motor Vehicles Act, the Kolkata Traffic Police has been involved in seizing and impounding bicycles of riders defying or violating the ban.
Since 2018, the Kolkata Police has been condemned for being iron-handed towards bicyclists at several instances, such as performing stunts, and riding on pedestrian sidewalks/footpaths. The department tried to raise the penalties from Rs 100 to 1000 for violators performing stunts, but since bicyclists do not require licenses, it was resisted and not implemented.[39] Furthermore, beginning November 2021, the department began to target bicyclists who are found drunk and began to charge riders under the section 510 of theIndian Penal Code (later section 24 ofBharatiya Nyaya Sanhita) instead of section 185 of theMotor Vehicles Act for public intoxication rather than drunken pedaling.[40][41]
The Kolkata Police faced criticism for its handling of the2024 Kolkata rape and murder and the protests that followed it, where in August 2024, a female doctor on night duty atR. G. Kar Medical College and Hospital in North Kolkata was raped and murdered. One civic police volunteer—who had a history of violence against women—was arrested by the Kolkata Police in connection with the murder. On the night of 14 August, during the initial protest, a mob comprising hundreds of vandals—widely accused of belonging to the ruling party of West Bengal, the [mob]—ransacked the hospital and in doing so, destroyed much of the physical evidence present within it. The Kolkata Police were accused of inaction against the mob.[42][43][44]Following this, dissent and defamatory speech on social media (most famously on Twitter) aimed against the force and government's handling of the case was met with cease and desist notices sent by the Kolkata Police's cyber police station, under section 168 of theBharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (or the Code of Criminal Procedure).[45]TheCalcutta High Court transferred the case over to the purview of theCentral Bureau of Investigation soon after the protests erupted. On 20 August, theSupreme Court tooksuo moto cognizance of the matter. The Court criticised thestate government and its machinery (including the Kolkata Police), among other institutions involved in the incident.[46]
On 14 September, Inspector Abhijit Mondal of the Kolkata Police was arrested by the CBI for destruction of evidence, compromising the scene of crime and delay in filing a first information report (FIR) as per demand of opponent parties of West Bengal.[46] Three days later, the state government newly appointed Shri Manoj Verma IPSCommissioner on demand of the protestors.[47]
During theDurga Puja festivities in October 2024, nine protesters were arrested by the Kolkata Police at apuja pandal in Ballygunge for charges under various sections of theBharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (or the Indian Penal Code), includingunlawful assembly, assaulting an on-duty public servant and public mischief. TheCalcutta High Court granted bail to the protesters, noting thatprima facie neither were their actions politically or religiously motivated, nor was there any evidence of criminal intent as they did not harm anyone; setting the bond at ₹1,000.[48]..
Kolkata Police operates Police Athletic Club (abbreviated Police AC), a team that competes in the Premier Division of theCalcutta Football League.[49][50][51]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: publisher location (link)