Bombay Police: The genesis - Alpha for Aungier, Bravo for Bhandaris

Like many great institutions that rise to glory and power from humble circumstances, the Greater, Mumbai Police grew from modest seeding. The first police force in Bombay, marshalled by the East India Company, consisted of toddy tappers, men who came from the Bhandari community.

The history of the Bombay City Police opens in 1669 with the Bhandari Militia, a modest force of about 500 men. Bombay's seven separate islands were cemented by swamp. In 1661 this ignoble litter, recommended chiefly by its plunging natural harbour, was given as dowry to King Charles Il of England as part of a politico-marital alliance with Catherine of Braganza. Bombay was to be the sweetener in an Anglo-Portuguese alliance to keep the Dutch and French at bay in the East Indies; but as dowries go, it was hard to find one more malarial or unruly. Mosquitoes, robberies and burglaries were the order of the day.

Bombay: The beginnings

Governor Gerald Aungier (1672-1677) felt that Bombay would be a better headquarters for the East India Company than Surat because of its trade advantages and natural harbour. This transfer was eventually done in 1686.

Aungier believed that Bombay was a city, which by God’s assistance is intended to be built and contributed greatly to its development. The city’s fortifications were strengthened, a ditch was built around the fort, bastions and batteries were added, a marine base was established, the dockyard extended, the garrison built up, the Forts at Sion and Sewree further fortified and a new fortress Fort St. George- was built in 1770.

English law and courts were introduced and judges appointed, a mole for berthing ships staked out, a mint was established and the first rupee coined. Aungier also recommended the building of a walled town from Dongri in the north to Mendham’s Point, where today’s office of the Director General of Police, Maharashtra State.

The Bombay Police was instrumental in conducting the first census operation, attempted by the Bombay Government in 1849. Captain E. Baynes, Superintendent of Police, was put in charge.

Seven islands united through reclamation

Samual T. Sheppard, in his 1930 book Bombay described the city as the great epic of reclamation which has been in progress for two and a half centuries and of which the end is not yet in sight.

The rise of Bombay can be attributed to the fusion of seven islands into one large island. The reclaiming of the land gave new spaces for development. The area between the seven islands, originally swampy land called ‘flats’, today forms much of central Mumbai. But during high tide these areas are completely submerge, making the islands inaccessible to one another. Coconut palms grew in these flats and local inhabitants would add fish manure to it; and dry leaves further made the swamps dirty.

One of the major reclamations of this period was the building of the Hornby Vellard ( the area facing Haji Ali). This altered the island most remarkably. Charles Boone began the work in 1715, and a temporary reclamation of the great breach at Mahalakshmi, which separated Bombay island from Worli, was built. But the actual construction of the Vellard (from the Portuguese Vellodo, meaning fence) took place between 1771 and 1784 under Governor William Hornby.

This Vellard made the crucial connection between north and south Bombay, opening up lands in central areas of the flats for settlement and cultivation. It also linked the eastern and western sides of the island.In 1805 the Sion causeway, connecting it to the mainland, was built. And with the completion of Coloba causeway in 1838, all the seven islands were linked together.

Charles Forjett

Superintendent of Police, Bombay/ Deputy Commissioner of Police / Acting Commissioner of Police (1855-1863)

Easily the most maverick police chief Bombay has ever had, Charles Forjett, like a modern-day Emperor Akbar, walked the streets in disguise to listen in on people's conversations and sniff out possible mutinies. Brought up in India, he had an intimate knowledge of local customs and a flair for the language. His physical features helped him; S. M. Edwards ICS, Commissioner of Police, Bombay (1909-1916) describes him as having "black hair and a sallow complexion". It was during his tenure as police chief that the 1857 revolution erupted, shaking the East India Company to its very foundations. But while there was butchery and bloodshed in northern India and Bengal, Forjett kept Bombay quiet. Perhaps this was also because of the city's inherent commercial instinct to eschew political trouble but Forjett also let it be known that not even a whisper of dissent would be tolerated.  And he broadcast his message in the most macabre way possible.

Claiming to have uncovered an Indian Guy Fawkes conspiracy to blow up the town during Diwali, Forjett had the two ring-leaders arrested, stripped and tied to two canons. On October 15, 1857, the two men, Drill Havaldar Sayed Hussain of the Marine Battalion and sepoy Mangal Guddrea of the 10th Native Indian Regiment, were blown to smithereens at the Esplanade in front of packed crowds. Ironically, this very Esplanade was renamed Azad Maidan. Despite his iron fist, Forjett was admired by the Indians for his high standard of policing. He  introduced beats, night rounds and other procedures. If he found his officers misbehaving with the locals or taking bribes he came down hard on them. What really set him apart in the eyes of the Indian was his exoneration of Jagannath Shankarseth, a leading businessman and philanthropist, falsely accused of treason by Europeans with vested interests.

Act XIII of 1856: Professionalising the Police Force

Act XIII of 1856 Passed By The Legislative Council of India (Received The Assent of The Governor General of India on June 13th, 1856)

From 1829 to 1855, the officials responsible for the police administration of Bombay City were a Senior Magistrate, a Junior Magistrate and a Superintendent of Police, who some times had a Deputy assist him. The Superintendent, alternatively known as the Constable, was generally an army officer of the rank of Captain with perhaps no previous experience of police work.

In 1855 Charles Forjett, Deputy Superintendent of Police was appointed Superintendent of Police, Bombay City. His appointment inaugurated the regime of the Professional Police Officer in Bombay City. Forjett’s position was strengthened by the passing of Act XIII of 1856.  He then undertook a comprehensive of the force; under the influence of his strong personality, the morale of the police improved and there was a noticeable decrease in serious crime.

William Crawford, The First Commissioner of Police & Senior Magistrate of Police (1856 - 1864)

The post of Commissioner of Police was created by Act XIII of 1856 on June 14, 1856. William Crawford was appointed the first Commissioner of Police for the Town and Island of Bombay, while also performing his duties as Senior Magistrate of Police from November 1, 1856. Charles Forjett and W. H. G. Dunlop were appointed Deputy Commissioners. In the 1850s, the Police performed many tasks which extended beyond crime and law and order duties to civic ones. The poor mansoon of 1855 prompted the Bombay Government to mobilise all its resources to avert a water crisis. Crowford was put in charge of all the public tanks and wells on the island to prevent wastage of water. He served as Commissioner of Police till 1863 and eventually retired on December 13, 1864 while on leave in England. Charles Forjett acted as Commissioner of Police in this period.

PYDHONIE POLICE STATION

Pydhonie Police Station is the oldest police station of Mumbai city established in the year of Eighteen Sixty….Situated in south Mumbai

Sir Frank Souter, KT, CSI – Commissioner of Police, Bombay (1864 – 1888)

On December 14,1864 a dashing 33-year-old officer named Frank Henry Souter was appointed the Commissioner of Police who still holds the record of the longest tenure as Commissioner of Police, a full 24 years; but more importantly he is known for setting the standards for policing in a rapidly expanding city. The lack of adequate housing and sanitation for his men was a constant cause for concern.

Souter was chosen for the position because of the distinguished service rendered by him in suppressing mutinies in the southern Maratha region and Dharwar. To the British, still trembling after the ferocity of the Indian uprising of 1857, men like Charles Forjett and Frank Souter were the new heroes.

Office of The Commissioner of Police, Bombay at Byculla: 1880-1899

Armed Police: Equipped to handle uncertainty

The Armed Branch of the Bombay Police was opened in 1895 in the tenure of Commissioner of Police R. H. Vincent. lt is important to understand why the Bombay police force, modelled on the London police whose Bobby is famously armed only with a truncheon, needed an armed wing.

In 1893, the Hanuman Temple at Pydhonie had been stormed, tearing the city apart by one of the worst Hindu-Muslim riots. To add to this cauldron of tensions, Lokmanya Tilak had started the practice of Sarvajanik Ganesh mandals where anti-British statements were being openly aired.

The mood was getting alarmingly boisterous. And the police realized that they could not always call on the military to help them out. This led to the forming of Armed Police. The men were equipped with bored out Martini Henrys which used buckshot to disperse unruly crowds. However, these weapons were also criticized for their short range and inaccuracy, as several innocent people were hit by buckshot. Ultimately they were replaced by rifles.

The wing was originally trained and stationed at the Police Headquarters in Byculla and was later moved to Crawford Market. By 1924, vast swathes of land in the Naigaum Development Scheme had been acquired for the establishment of Armed  Police Headquarters. The armoury is protected at all times by a Quarter-guard. The next year, the firing range of the  Great Indian Peninsula Railway (Auxiliary Force's India) at Ghatkopar was given to the police. But since it was so far out from the city limits, most policemen were reluctant to travel the distance.

The Head Office of the Commissioner of Police, Greater Mumbai

The Head Office of the Commissioner of Police, Greater Mumbai is a landmark located at the junction of Lokmanya Tilak Marg (Carnac Road) and Dr Dadabhai Naorojee Road (Hornby Road). Facing Crawford Market, this beautiful edifice was designed in secular Victorian Gothic Style using yellow Malad stone by Architect John Adams. The construction commenced in November 1894 and was completed on December 24, 1896.

The site was chosen originally by Sir Frank Souter because it was far more convenient than the Old Police Office at Byculla – and also for concentrating reinforcements during seasons of popular excitement and disturbance. However, Souter retired before the building was ready, and the honour of being the first commissioner to occupy it went to Hartley Kennedy, CSI, Commissioner during 1899-1901. Although the building was ready in the end of 1896, it was only on January 9, 1899 that Kennedy moved in.

Freedom Movement and the Bombay Police

The year 1919 was one of the most volatile years in the city when the streets were almost constantly in a state of tumult: The agitation against the oppressive Rowlatt Act, the Satyagraha and Khilafat movements launched by Gandhi, growing industrial unrest in the mills which was spreading to the docks and other factories, the impact of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre - all ensured that Commissioner of Police and his men had their hands full.

To add to their woes, it was decided to deport B. G. Horniman, the pro-India editor of The Bombay Chronicle and a much loved figure. Horniman's deportation was met by a city-wide hartal. The mounted police were on call at all times to break up processions and noisy street protests. And it was because of the depredations of the mounted police - who were ordered to ride into a crowd of satyagrahis - that Francis C. Griffith, OBE, IP (later Sir Francis) Commissioner of Police (1919-1921) was called on by a most unusual visitor.

Mahatma Gandhi himself came to the Police Headquarters to protest the mounted police's brutal attack on the non-violent crowd. Griffith, however, refused to give an inch. An account of the Gandhi- Griffith meeting is reproduced in Gandhi autobiography My Experiments With Truth.

Bombay City Police becomes Greater Bombay Police - 1st October, 1945

October 1st, 1945 is a landmark day in the history of the Bombay Police. Greater Bombay was formed on this day. Bombay City (Colaba to Mahim and VT to Sion) was amalgamated with the Bombay Suburban District (Bandra, Santa Cruz, Andheri, Kurla and Ghatkopar). The number of police stations immediately went up from 18 to 23. The Suburban District had been carved out of the massive Thana District in 1920 and was under the charge of a District Superintendent of Police functioning under the Inspector General of Police, Province of Bombay. Henceforth, the whole of Greater Bombay was under the Commissioner of Police who was now known as the Commissioner of Police, Greater Bombay. Happy. E. Butler was the first to hold this title.

J. S. Bharucha, IP (August 15, 1947 - May 15, 1949)

The first Commissioner of Police of Bombay in independent India came from a wealthy Parsi family of Surat and was educated at Oxford. His previous postings included those at far- flung places like Godhra, Bijapur and Larkana, Sind.

Within months of taking over as CP, he had to tackle the fall out of a crime that devastated a newly independent India: The assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. The Father of the Nation may have been shot in Delhi but the dark plot was hatched in the Bombay Province. The investigation was placed directly under the charge of J. D. Nagarvala, IP, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Special Branch, Bombay.

Bharucha, a batchelor, retired and settled down in Poona where he lived in his bungalow on Prince of Wales Drive (Nehru Road). A lover of dogs, he stayed with a large number of his canine friends including a few Great Danes. Sadly, it was a dog bite that caused his death in 1977.

M. M. Chudasama, IP (1949- 1955)

The largest serving Commissioner of Police of independent India was a Rajput, and was formerly the D.I.G., C.I.D. of the Bombay Province at Poona. In his tenure, the Greater Bombay Police was amalgamated with the Bombay District Police through the promulgation of the Bombay Police Act of 1951 on June 11. The Inspector General at Poona became the overall chief. After his CP stint, he was appointed the Inspector General of Bombay State (after 1956 the term 'Province' was replaced by 'State'). His son, Nana Chudasama, is a former Sheriff of Mumbai and a well known, well loved public figure.

Bombay Police Act - 1951

The Bombay Police Act of 1951 was promulgated on June 11. The Act combined the Bombay District Police and the Bombay City Police, with the Inspector General as the overall chief. Henceforth, the Bombay CP was no more overlord, he was now subordinate to the IG. M. M.

Chudasama IP (1949-1955) was the Commissioner of Police in this new dispensation and Mr. N. M. Kamte O. B. E., IP. Inspector General of Police, Bombay State at Poona became the first Inspector General of Police to thus command both the Bombay City Police and the Bombay District Police by a stroke of a statute.

Dog Squad: The force's best friend

The first members of the Dog Squad were Kumar, Bindo and Rajah - three Doberman Pincer pups gifted by the Doberman Pincer Club of India through the Maharaja of Baria in 1959. The pups were far too young and playful to be trained, but when they came of age they had three trainers to put them through the paces. All of them had been trained by Basil Kane.

Basil Kane was then Inspector of Police, Crime Branch, and the Police Dog Unit was placed under him (he ultimately rose to DCP). Kane had earlier been sent to Britain expressly to learn about dog handling, and he had trained Major, an Alsatian, under the supervision of Scotland Yard's Dog Training Centre. He even brought major to Bombay - certainly worth the trouble, for it was Major who helped to solve a murder at Aarey Colony in Goregaon. The dog was made to sniff at a shirt and a lungi left behind by the criminals. He followed the scent to a nearby hamlet, went straight into a hut and stood barking furiously in front a tin trunk. The trunk was opened, and inside was a shirt with the same dhobi mark as the lungi. But since the court had to be convinced of Major's tracking skills, a special demonstration was arranged for the judges' benefit.

The Underworld: A brutal and sordid history

The mafia reached its pinnacle during the mid-1970s. It was the time when Underworld dons Haji Mastan, Karim Hitman-for-hire Lala and Varadarajan Mudaliar became household names. Haji Mastan and Karim Lala finally denounced their anti-social and illegal activities by taking a vow in the presence of Loknayak Jaiprakash Narayan.

Came the 1980s and Haji Mastan retired into politics, floating his own party. Karim Lala got his comeuppance: He became a sick old man, his brother Rahim was shot dead and his nephew, the celebrated hitman Samad Khan, was hit in turn. Varadharajan Mudaliar was forced to flee to Madras, where he breathed his last.

But this wasn t the end of the mafia syndicate. Young biood soon made its presence felt: In the form of Dawood Ibrahim, Arun Gawli and Amar Naik, in the 1980s. All three were propelled into the underworld cosmos as much by greed as by the clout power that came with the territory. The gangs indulged in internecine warfare to finish off rivals or to settle old scores - necessitating ruthless gunmen - and a new breed of hired killers was born. And when they went to work, rivers of blood flowed, often spilling out onto the streets for good measure.

1st Women Police - Ms. Parwani, ACP - 1976

In 1939, the Prohibition Branch opened. One of its main operations was searching carriers and vendors of liquor, and many of them were women who were used as fronts. It was impossible to have nurses present all over the city and the need for full-time women searchers was keenly felt. As a result, 22 lady 'Searchers’ were appointed in the X Division (Prohibition Division) at a salary of Rs 25 per month plus free housing.The experiment was successful and the post of Women Constable was created. Those were also the war years and the burden thrown on the police had increased manifold, so the extra hands were welcomed.

It  was A. E. Caffin, the last British CP, who first wrote to the government expressing the need for women police officers, but he left before anything could be done about it.

Post-Independence, N. M. Kamte became the first IG of Police, Province of Bombay. One day, as he records in his memoirs, he saw a rowdy procession being taken out while his constables stood on the sidelines and watched mutely. They didn’t lift a finger even when they were pelted with chappals. The reason: It was an all-woman morcha. The scene had Its desired effect on the IG: He went ahead and recruited a few strapping women and had them trained.