The Mumbai Police (Marathi: मुंबई पोलीस, IAST: Mumbaī Pulīs, officially Greater Mumbai Police, formerly Bombay Police) is the police department of the city of Mumbai, Maharashtra. It is a part of Maharashtra Police and has the primary responsibilities of law enforcement and investigation within the limits of Mumbai. The force's motto is "Sadrakṣaṇāya Khalanigrahaṇāya" (Sanskrit: सद्रक्षणाय खलनिग्रहणाय, English: "To protect Good and to destroy Evil").[1]
It is headed by the Commissioner of the Mumbai Police assisted by an IPS officer in the rank of Additional Director General, and each district headed is headed by a Deputy Commissioner of Police in the rank of Superintendent of Police (excluding jails headed by Inspector Generals). Each police station is headed by a Senior Inspector called the Station House Officer (SHO).
On 29 March 1780, the office of the Lieutenant of Police was dissolved and the office of Deputy of Police was created. James Tod, the then Lieutenant of Police was appointed as the first Deputy of Police on 5 April 1780. He was tried and dismissed for corruption in 1790. Subsequently, the designation was changed to "Deputy of Police and High Constable".[2]
In 1793, Act XXXIII, Geo. III was promulgated. The post of Deputy of Police was abolished and a post of Superintendent of Police was created in its place, with a Deputy of Superintendent of Police assisting him. Mr. Simon Halliday was the first Superintendent of Police, and governed till 1808. During this time, a thorough revision and re-arrangement of policing in the area outside the Fort was carried out. The troublesome area known as "Dungree and the Woods" was split up into 14 Police divisions, each division being staffed by two English constables and a varying number of Peons (not exceeding 130 for the whole area), who were to be stationary in their respective charges and responsible for dealing with all illegal acts committed within their limits.[2]
Post-1857
A photograph of four members of the Bombay Police c. 1855–1862A member of the Bombay Police photographed during the 19th century
After independence, many changes to the Bombay Police were instituted. On 15 August 1947, J.S. Bharucha became the first Indian head of the Bombay Police, taking over from the last British Commissioner, Mr. A.E. Caffin.[2] A dog squad was set up in 1965. Computers were first used by the Bombay police in 1976. A Narcotics Cell and an anti-terrorist special operations squad were created in 1989.
The service was renamed to Mumbai Police in 1995, following the renaming of Bombay to Mumbai. In 1995, the control room was computerised, and finally, in 1997, the Mumbai Police went online.[5]
Modernisation and present day
A massive modernization of the Mumbai Police took place in 2005. New vehicles, guns and electronic equipment were procured for police use. The Tourist Squad was also created to patrol the beaches of Mumbai. On 30 May 2009 the Maharashtra government in Mumbai set up a police station dedicated to tackling cyber crime. It is the third such facility in India after Bangalore and Hyderabad. The dedicated police station will now register first information reports (FIRs) on its own and investigate offences pertaining to cyberspace. It is not clear how people abroad may report to Mumbai Cybercell. The police station will take care of all cyber cases in the city including that of terror e-mails.
The existing Cyber Crime Investigation Cell of the city police probes cyber offences, but the FIRs are registered in local police stations depending on the site of the offence.
A specially trained team of over 25 policemen, headed by an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), were selected for the new job.
The facility will function under the supervision of Deputy Commissioner of Police (Preventive) and Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime).[7]
Following the 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai, a SWAT like unit was created to combat terrorism. Named as Force One, the unit has been trained in the use of sophisticated arms and explosives, and the personnel are known for their rapid shooting skills. While the National Security Guard has a regional hub in Mumbai, Force One is expected to be part of the initial response to a terror strike in Mumbai.[8][9][10]
The Mumbai Police Headquarters are in a Grade II-A listed heritage building that was built in 1894 and designed by John Adams, who also designed the Royal Bombay Yacht Club. It is located opposite Crawford Market in South Mumbai, a mile away from the Victoria Terminus. The construction work started on 17 November 1894 and finished two years later on 24 December 1896. The building was formally opened on 1 January 1897.[11]
The architectural style of the building is Gothic Revival. In contrast to the Maharashtra Police Headquarters in Fort, which uses blue basalt and was built some two decades earlier, this building uses yellow basalt.[11] The building underwent a major restoration in 2017 for the first time in its 120-year history.[12] In 2018, it was announced that a police museum funded by Tata Trusts would open in the building.[13] Since then, there have been no further developments.
Organisation
The Mumbai Police Department is headed by a Police Commissioner, who is an IPS officer. The Mumbai Police comes under the state home department through Maharashtra Police. The city is divided into Twelve police zones and Twenty Five traffic police zones, each headed by a Deputy Commissioner of Police. The Traffic Police is a semi-autonomous body under the Mumbai Police.[14]
The department holds several programs for the welfare of its officials including Retirement Planning Workshop.
Geographical division
Mumbai police is broadly divided into five regions namely Central, North, South, East and West. For administrative purposes, each region is subdivided into 3 to 4 zones.[15] Each zone contains 3 to 4 police stations. Each zone is commanded by a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP). Apart from the 12 zones, there is also an additional Port zone. Police stations under the Port zone keep vigil on the Mumbai Port and container terminals in Mumbai. There are a total of 91 police stations in the jurisdiction of Mumbai Police. Every police station has a Police Inspector who is the in-charge officer of the station.
Subunits
Mumbai Police is divided into the following units:
Local Police
Special Unit Service
Crime Branch
Cyber Crime Investigation Cell or Cyber Cell [16] is a wing of Mumbai Police, India, to deal with computer crimes, and to enforce provisions of India's Information Technology Law, namely, The Information Technology Act, 2000, and various cyber crime related provisions of criminal laws, including the Indian Penal Code, and the Companies Act of India subsection on IT-Sector responsibilities of corporate measures to protect cybersecurity. Cyber Crime Investigation Cell is a part of Crime Branch, Criminal Investigation Department of the Mumbai Police.[17]
Note 1: The equivalent rank to the three-star ASP in State Police Services is the deputy superintendent of police (DSP/DySP), which is not a gazetted rank and contains the respective state police service's acronym in insignia, such as OPS for Odisha Police Service.
Anti-Terrorism Squad Chief Hemant Karkare, Additional Commissioner of Police Ashok Kamte and Encounter specialist Vijay Salaskar were among the policemen who fell to the bullets of the terrorists. Then Joint Commissioner of Mumbai Crime Branch Mr. Rakesh Maria under the leadership of Police Commissioner Hasan Gafoor tackled the abrupt attack by his superb skills.[citation needed] Mr. Ramesh Mahale, then an officer with crime branch investigated the case and brought the lone arrested militant Ajmal Kasab to justice. Police Commissioner Hasan Gafoor was shunted out of his office.[24] Mahale resigned recently over a murder case investigation which he was leading.[25]
In the following year, as a response to these attacks, a specialised counter-terrorism unit, Force One was formed and commissioned on 24 November 2009, two days before the anniversary of the 26/11 terror attacks. A Committee was appointed to look into the failures of cops pertaining to the terror attack. The Ram Pradhan Committee, as it came to be known, furnished a report recommending a series of improvements & reforms. The State Government of Maharashtra however never had this report tabled in the legislature fearing a fallout over strictures passed in the report. A Public Interest Litigation has been filed by social activist Ketan Tirodkar to demand equal justice for all the police who were killed in the terror attack; especially for the members of the Bomb Disposal Squad of Mumbai Police. During the hearing of the petition, the Government informed the High Court that the Federal Government of India has rejected the proposal to award the Bomb Disposal Squad of the city police for their contribution in defusing granades in the terror attack. [26][27]
Sheena Bora, an executive working for Metro One based in Mumbai, went missing on 24 April 2012. In August 2015, the Mumbai Police had received a tip-off from an unknown man claiming that Sheena Bora had been murdered. After they got in touch with their Counterparts in Pune, they arrested her mother, Indrani Mukerjea, her stepfather Sanjeev Khanna, and her mother's chauffeur, Shyamvar Pinturam Rai, for allegedly abducting and killing her and subsequently burning her corpse. They also arrested Indrani's husband, Peter Mukerjea in connection with the case. Rai has now been allowed to turn approver in the case after he was pardoned by the Bandra Magistrate Court in Mumbai. As of May 2017, Indrani, Peter, and Sanjeev have been lodged in Byculla Women's Prison and Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai, respectively.
Equipment
Much of the equipment for the Mumbai Police are manufactured indigenously by the Indian Ordnance Factories controlled by the Ordnance Factories Board, Ministry of Defence, Government of India. Weapons such as Glock Pistols are imported from Austria. These pistols were first imported for the Anti-terrorist Squad in Mumbai when the same was formed in 2004.
Peaked caps are worn with an orange band and crown that is less stiff such it drops downwards. Khaki short sleeve shirt and long pants are worn by most members. Some women might wear sarees if they prefer. The patch of the police force is visible too.
Mumbai police in popular culture
Because Bollywood, India's Hindi language film industry, is primarily based in Mumbai, the Mumbai police has been frequently portrayed in films. Some of the prominent ones are listed below:
Most of these films are based on the operational groups most commonly known as Encounter Squads. Officers like Pradeep Sharma, Vijay Salaskar, Praful Bhosale, Ravindra Angre etc. have previously headed these squads. Junior officers Hemant Desai, Ashok Khot, Sachin Waze, Daya Nayak, Uttam Bhosale etc. assisted them.[citation needed]
The Cyber Crime App launched by Mumbai Police in 2019 registered 140,000 incidents within one year whereby 132,000 suspicious phone numbers were tracked.[34]
Controversies
The Mumbai Police has a history of corruption, police brutality, refusal to file reports, aligning with political entities, incompetence, as well as moral policing. However, in recent times, situations have been changing, but have not been as effective.
On 13 January 1982, dreaded gangster Manya Surve was killed in a shootout with Inspector Raja Tambat and ACP Isaque Bagwan, who fired five bullets into his chest and shoulder. Surve's death became known as Mumbai's first recorded encounter killing.[35][36] The rate of encounter killings increased in the late 1980s and further rose after the 1993 Mumbai bombings; a total of 622 alleged criminals were killed in police encounters from 1982 to 2004.[37][38]
On 16 November 1991, the Anti-Terrorism Squad, led by ACP Aftab Ahmed Khan, laid siege on Lokhandwala Complex to capture gangster Maya Dolas, and 6 others. Khan and his squad were criticized for firing 450 bullets which killed the gangsters, who refused to surrender.[39] However, the ATS officers were given a clean chit following an inquiry.
Right before the 1993 Bombay bombings, Gul Mohammad, a small-time criminal, confessed to his role in the 1992 riots, his training in Pakistan, and a conspiracy underway to bomb major locations around the city, including the Bombay Stock Exchange, Sahar International Airport and the Shiv. However, his conspiracy claim was dismissed by the police as a "mere bluff".[40]
The 2008 terrorist attacks in Mumbai have been ascribed to massive intelligence failure by Mumbai Police.[41] Furthermore, the attack also exposed the several other weaknesses, such as using antiquated weaponry, poor marksmanship training, lack of a commando style force like the SWAT in the United States, as well as bureaucratic inefficiency when coordinating with the National Security Guard.[42][43]
Indian poet Dr Tapan Kumar Pradhan in his books and social media posts has exposed several loopholes in criminal investigation by Mumbai Police,[44] especially with regard to Hemangi Sharma Fraud Case[45]
In 2003-04 Telgi scam also known as fake-stamp scam broke out in which Mumbai's police commissioner R.S. Sharma came to be arrested along with many other senior officers. [1]
Another former police commissioner of Mumbai police Sanjay Pande came to be arrested in stock-exchange scam involving tapping of telephone lines of investors. [2]
Encounter specialist Pradeep Sharma came to be arrested in Antilia bomb scare case involving murder of Mansukh Hiren. [3]
Another encounter specialist Daya Nayak absconded while anti-corruption bureau of Mumbai was seeking his custody. [4] Same officer is now facing a criminal accusation of planting drugs upon some youngsters during his tenure with the Anti-terrorist Squad of Maharashtra Police. [46][47]
A reply filed by Director General of Police Housing Corporation (former Police Commissioner of Mumbai) Arup Patnaik has exposed land-grabbing offence by IASs, IPSs & Bombay High Court Judges wherein six prime plots
of land reserved for service quarters of constabulary were usurped by private housing societies of the land-grabbing bureaucrats and judges of Bombay High Court. Three plots of land are located at Worli Sea Face while three are Western-Mumbai suburb Andheri west. This disclosure exposing the biggest organised land-grab operation by bureaucrats & judges was made by Director General of Police Housing Corporation Shri Arupji Patnaiksaheb in his reply to a Public Interest Litigation filed by former journalist Ketan Tirodkar. [5][6][7]
On 13 March 2021, Senior Inspector Sachin Vaze, an encounter specialist, was arrested for his involvement in the Antilia bomb scare. Through an investigation, Vaze revealed that he was acting at the behest of Anil Deshmukh, who was then minster of Home Affairs. [48] Vaze was also involved in collecting extortion money in December 2020 from members of the Indian Hotel and Restaurant Association (AHAR). He would call from his office in the Commissioner of Police compound for monthly amounts and, if paid, would ensure that the Social Service Branch would not conduct raids. Mid-Day reported that a source said, "SSB carried out raids at hotels and bars and filed cases against them. The last SSB raid was in early February. After that, no raid was conducted as everybody agreed to pay the money to be able to operate."[49] Vaze was previously involved in the custodial torture and death of Khwaja Yunus in 2004, a suspect in the 2002 Ghatkopar bombing case. [50]
The traffic branch of Mumbai Police has faced ire and criticism for penalizing and harassing bicyclists for riding on Bandra-Worli Sea Link, as well as for obstructing traffic due to slow speeds of riders. The fines for bicyclists riding on the bridge, as well as on the Trans Harbour Link, Eastern Freeway, the BKC-Chunabhatti flyover, and the under construction Coastal Road is Rs 1200 under Mumbai Police Act, 1951, which has been steeply set and does not conform to the standards of Motor Vehicles Act, which also does not state any penalties against bicyclists. [51]
The Mumbai Police has also faced flak for incidents of moral policing, which have resulted in serious protests -
In September 2000, the officials banned kissing in the Marine Drive area. They cited the Section of 110 Mumbai Police Act, 1951 which allows the police to interfere in "disorderly behaviour." The decree was later withdrawn after protests.[52]
In 2012, Assistant Police Commissioner Vasant Dhoble carried out a series of raids on bars and clubs in and around Mumbai, claiming to rescue prostitutes.[53] In one instance, he labelled four German women wrongly as sex workers in front of cameras when he arrested them on 30 March 2014 from the Voodoo pub.[54] On 5 June 2012, Dhoble raided Masala Curry restaurant after he felt suspicious of women being allowed free entry.[55] Two cousins who were picked up in the raid later filed a defamation case against Dhoble.[56] With intense criticism and following pressure, Dhoble was removed from Social Service Branch and transferred.[57]
On 6 August 2015, Malwani police in Mumbai, raided hotels and guest houses near Aksa Beach and Madh Island, and detained about 40 couples. Most of them were consenting couples in private rooms, but they were charged under Section 110 (Indecent behaviour in public) of the Bombay Police Act and fined ₹1,200 (US$15).[58] Only three cases were filed under Prevention of Immoral Traffic Act. Following protests and criticism, then Commissioner Rakesh Maria order an inquiry into the raids.[59] Following a thorough investigation, Maria ordered cops not to use the Section 110 of the Bombay Police Act, 1951 which is an offense of Public Indecency to harass citizens and moral police them.[60]
On 27 December 2015, a senior police inspector along with constable were caught moral policing and thrashing a youth, besides verbally abusing his female friend in Ulhasnagar. The act of moral policing was heavily criticized after a video of the thrashing went viral.[61]
On 11 February 2024, 3 days before Valentines Day, several personnel from Mumbai police were accused of heckling and extorting money from the couples kissing or hugging in the gardens. Police personnel were keeping an eye on couples and harassed them if the couples were caught kissing or holding hands.[62]
Kadam, B. S. Sri; Socio-Historical Study Of Police Administration in Bombay Presidency (1861 to 1947); Kolhapur 1993 (Diss. Shivaji University)
Kennedy, M. Notes On Criminal Classes in the Bombay Presidency Appendices regarding some Foreign Criminals who occasionally visit the Presidency: Including Hints on the Detection of Counterfeit Coin; Bombay 1908
Edwardes, Stephen M. (Commissioner of Police); The Bombay City Police: A Historical Sketch, 1672–1916; Bombay u.a. 1923
Edwardes, Stephen M.; Crime in India: Brief Review of the more Important Offences included in the Annual Criminal Returns with Chapters on Prostitution & Miscellaneous Matters; Oxford u.a. 1924
Statistiken: gedruckt im: Annual Report of Police for the Town and Island of Bombay, laufende Monatsstatistiken auf Mumbai Police
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