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Bengal

Kolkata Police looks to boost relation with city-dwellers through band performance

Kolkata: In a significant step to boost police-public relation, Kolkata Police will now organise performances of police band in front of Victoria Memorial on weekends. The first performance of the band was held at the venue on Saturday afternoon and was followed on Sunday at the same time.

"I wanted to experiment by bringing the performance of the band to the general public, to increase police-public relations. As of now, it is going to perform on weekends in front of the north gate of Victoria Memorial," said Anuj Sharma, Commissioner of Police, Kolkata.

It may be mentioned that the Kolkata Police Band is an old heritage of Kolkata Police, with a long and enriching history. The formation of the band dates back to November 1, 1858, when a group of Englishmen were hurriedly mobilised from the city of Calcutta and organised into a "Pipe-Band" to play at the Governor's House.

The Band normally performs during Republic Day, Independence Day, at national and international sporting events as well as on the occasions of State Receptions hosted in the honour of State guests.

"We have plans to have the band perform in different parts of the city in near future," Sharma added.

According to a senior official of Kolkata Police, the primary objective of the band is to contribute to effective operation of police service by strengthening and expanding lines of communication and public relations between the public and police and provide ceremonial support as and when required.

"We have plans to host the band's performance at some major tourist destinations in the city which have large footfall," the official said.

The Victoria Memorial has an average footfall of 35,000 during the winter season and it often goes up to 40,000 during weekends. Normally, 15 percent more visitors turn up at the Memorial during weekends.

Moreover, in the afternoon, a number of people turn up at the north gate to take photographs of the Memorial and also to take a ride on the horse carriage that starts from near the gate.

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