April 1st, 1936 will always remain etched in golden letters in the history of Odisha, as
on this date
both the state of Odisha and the Odisha Police were born. The new state was formed by
taking some
portions of Madras presidency and Central province. The new province constituted of six
districts.
Perhaps, police administration, in some form or the other, has been in-vogue since the
inception of
human civilization. In the context of our country, a brief mention about policing is
found in
"Manusmriti" codified by Manu, the great law- giver. Kautilya, a great scholar and
diplomat of the
Mauryan period described the duties and functions of the police in "ARTHASHASTRA". In
the ancient state
of Kalinga "Atabika" police were being employed to control civic unrest. During those
days the police
officials were known as "RAKSHAMAH".
April 1st, 1936 will always remain etched in golden letters in the history of Odisha, as
on this date
both the state of Odisha and the Odisha Police were born. The new state was formed by
taking some
portions of Madras presidency and Central province. The new province constituted of six
districts.
Perhaps, police administration, in some form or the other, has been in-vogue since the
inception of
human civilization. In the context of our country, a brief mention about policing is
found in
"Manusmriti" codified by Manu, the great law- giver. Kautilya, a great scholar and
diplomat of the
Mauryan period described the duties and functions of the police in "ARTHASHASTRA". In
the ancient state
of Kalinga "Atabika" police were being employed to control civic unrest. During those
days the police
officials were known as "RAKSHAMAH".
During the medieval period successive rulers like Ananga Bhima Dev, Pratap Rudra Dev,
Mukunda Dev etc.,
used "DANDA PAIKAS" for policing in their jurisdiction. However, during the Mughal
period the police
administration was under the charge of "Kotwal" whose duty was to maintain order and
peace in his
jurisdiction.
After Mughals and Afghans the Marathas ruled over Odisha for about a century. They
continued with the
system of village police introduced by the Mughals. However, with the advent of the
Britishers a new
system of policing was introduced in Odisha from 1803. During the British rule, the land
holders and
Zamindars were required to appoint and maintain police force within their respective
estates. In 1829,
the post of Supdt. of Police, was abolished and the office of the Magistrate was
transferred from the
judge to the Collector. The Magistrate was the controlling officer of the police who
were known as
Darogas. In fact, Darogas enjoyed absolute powers.
There was widespread discontentment against the police tyranny in 1855 in Madras. In
1857 the Paikas
openly revolted against the British rule. As a result of these developments a commission
was set up by
the House of Commons to enquire into the administration of justice and the police system
in India. Based
on the recommendations of the Commission the police Act (Act V of 1861) was passed which
is the basis
for policing till date not only in Odisha but also in most parts of the country.
In 1936 the Odisha Police was formed in sync. with formation of the state of Odisha
which comprised of
4000 policemen approx. of all ranks taken together. Since the police personnel belonged
to three
different, heterogeneous police forces namely Bihar – Odisha, Madras presidency and
Central provinces,
some genuine difficulties were being faced by the police administration in managing the
force. Moreover,
a good number of policemen returned to Madras and Central provinces which led to
dislocation in police
work for some time.
Mr. E.A.O. Perkin was the first I.G. of Police of Odisha Police and Mr. I.C. Mcnally was
the first
A.I.G. of Police who was also in-charge of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).
There were 8 Ss.P in the province out of which six were in charge of six districts and
remaining two
Ss.P were in-charge of the Railways and the CID.
In 1937, there was a general election in which the Congress party won 36 seats out of 66
assembly seats.
Since the Congress was unwilling to form a Govt., an interim Govt., was formed which was
headed by the
Maharaja of Paralakhemundi. Thus, on 19.7.1937 Odisha Police came under a popular Govt.,
for the first
time. Between 1939 to 1945, due to outbreak of the world war –II, the police was under
great strain due
to multifarious activities relating to the war efforts of the Govt. and various
agitational activities
undertaken by the Congress from time to time. During this period some trained signalmen
were sent from
the Ganjam armed police to take part in the war though many other officers and men who
had volunteered
for military service were not allowed to join the armed forces as the Govt., could not
afford to weaken
the civil administration.
The Odisha Police Manual Rules (PMR) was compiled in 1940 as a hand manual dealing with
powers,
functions and duties of the police at various levels.
On 15 th August,1947 India achieved independence. With the ushering in of independence,
the Odisha
Police became a people’s police, a significant departure from being a colonial police.
Mr. J.E. Pearman
became the 1 st Inspector General of Police of the State after the Independence.
In 1948, 25 feudatory states were merged with Odisha, thus increasing the geographical
size of the state
significantly. With the integration of the princely states in Odisha the number of
districts became 11.
In 1949, the state of Mayurbhanj was merged into Odisha and it became a district of the
southern police
range. However, later it was included in the northern range w.e.f. 1.1.1950, for
administrative
convenience. In Nov’ 1949 the district of Kalahandi consisting of Dhama Nagar
sub-division of the then
Bolangir district and Nuapada sub- division of Sambalpur district was included in the
northern range.
Thus , the numbers of districts increased to 13. Of the two ranges the northern range,
having its Hqrs.
at Sambalpur comprised of Sambalpur, Bolangir, Dhenkanal, Sundargarh, Mayurbhanj,
Keonjhar and Kalahandi
districts and OMP 2 nd Bn., and Police Training College at Angul. The Southern range
with its Hqrs. at
Cuttack, comprised of Cuttack, Puri, Balasore, Ganjam, Koraput and Phulban
After retirement of Mr. Pearman on 31.3.1948 Mr. C.M. Wright Neville became the I.G. of
Police. After
Mr. Neville, Mr. B.Roy took over charge as I.G. of Police on 19.8.51. After his
retirement on 11.10.1958
Sri R.C. Dash took charge of I.G. of Police.
In 1955, the new capital of the state was established at Bhubaneswar.
A new police range was created at Berhampur w.e.f. 1.1.1960
Sri R.C.Das left the office of I.G.P. on 16.5.1960 and joined as a member of the Odisha
Pay Committee.
He was succeeded by Sri J.C. Ghosh as I.G. of Police
In 1964, after a serious communal riot in Rourkela followed by state-wide students’
agitation, a new
police district namely Rourkela was created and a new range namely Western Range
consisting of
Sundargarh , Keonjhar and Rourkela police districts was carved out of the Northern Range
For proper intelligence work the post of DIG, Intelligence was created with effect from
14.05.1964 by
taking out the special branch from the control of the DIG, CID and Railways
For better supervision and coordination over the vastly expanded signals establishment
in the state, the
post of DIG, Technical was created w.e.f. 17.12.1971.
In order to ensure better policing of the state capital a new police district namely
Bhubaneswar police
district was formed w.e.f. 1.4.1975.
In 1979, a state-wide agitation was launched by the Havildars and Constables of Odisha
Police under the
leadership of Latifur Rahaman which subsided after a brief turmoil.
In 1981, Cuttack district was divided into two districts viz:- Cuttack Rural and Cuttack
Sadar from
administrative point of view. In 1984 a new police range namely South-Western range was
formed having
its Hqrs. at Sunabeda, carving it out of the Southern Range, Berhampur. In the same year
a new police
district was formed at Berhampur, carving it out of Ganjam district. The following year
another range
namely Central range, with its Hqrs. at Cuttack, was carved out of the southern range
In 1992, 4 new districts namely Gajapati, Rayagada, Malkangiri and Nawarangapur were
formed Subsequently
in 1993, 9 more districts namely Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Nayagarh, Khurda,
Bhadrak, Nuapada,
Angul and Sonepur were formed. Again in 1994, 03 new districts namely Boudh, Jharsuguda
and Deogarh were
formed.,thus increasing the number of districts to 32. (32 Police districts against 30
Revenue
districts).
After enactment of the Odisha Military Police Act (Odisha Act VII of 1946) the Odisha
Military Police
was formed on 1 st March, 1946. Soon after its creation this force had to handle serious
situations in
places like Bhadrak, IB, Barang, Rampur, Cuttack etc. Due to strenuous nature of work of
the military
police and need for more personnel its strength was increased w.e.f. 1 st March, 1947.
The strength was
further increased with the formation of a Gurkha Military Police unit. On 1 st March
1948, after merger
of feudatory States in the Province of Odisha, there was a re-organisation of the police
organization
and the 2 nd Battalion of Odisha Military Police was established. This Battalion had
both Gurkha and
Odia companies. While the Bn. Headquarters was at Dhenkanal, two detachment camps of
this battalion were
functioning at Nayagarh and Jharsuguda. Subsequently, other Battalions came up at
different places of
the State. At present, there are altogether 8 Battalions and one India Rese
The name “Odisha Military Police” remained in vogue till 1980 .consequent upon enactment
of the Odisha
Military Police (Amendment) Act 1980, the name “Odisha Military Police’’ was changed to
“Special Armed
Police”. The headquarters of the SAP is at State Police Hqrs., Cuttack and it is under
the general
control and direction of the Director General and Inspector General of Police.
Annual central grant known as “Modernisation grant “ was made available to all the
states by the Centre
from 1969-70 onwards. Under this scheme Odisha Police received funds to purchase
wireless equipments,
motor vehicles, scientific and technical equipments etc for modernization of the Odisha
Police. A
full-fledged Forensic Science Laboratory was established at Bhubaneswar under the
control of DIG, CID,
providing Serological, Chemical and other expert- examination facilities within the
state.
Home-guards organization, as an auxiliary force, was set up in Odisha in the year 1962.
In 1973 the post
of Deputy Commandant General, Home-Guards and Fire Service was sanctioned. However, in
1978 the Fire
Service and Home Guards organization was taken out of the control of Police Organization
and started
functioning independently under the Commandant General, Home-Guards and Inspector
General, Fire Service
under the Home Department. The status of the head of the department was up-graded to the
rank of
Director General in 1985.
In the 1980s, left wing extremism raised its hydrahead after a gap of about a decade in
certain parts of
southern districts of Odisha, namely, Koraput, and Ganjam. After the division of Koraput
district into 4
districts viz:- Koraput, Rayagada, Malkangiri and Nabarangpur district and division of
Ganjam district
into Ganjam and Gajapati districts, the left wing extremism was noticed taking an
ascendance in the
districts of Malkangiri, Rayagada, and Gajapati. In later part of 1990s the left wing
extremism also
spread to the districts of Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar and Sundargarh located in the Northern
Odisha.
Odisha Police has kept pace with others in modernisation by procuring latest gadgets and
arms and
ammunition, in building up infrastructure and upgrading the skill of its personnel by
providing latest
training.
