Delhi Police Museum, built by the city’s police force in 2003 in north Delhi, is barely known to the denizens of the national capital, including cops. The museum was built to display objects that reflect how policing has developed since the pre-Independence period.
But the museum is hard to find. Looking for it, one has to brave confusion regarding its location. When traffic policemen standing near Vidhan Sabha were asked for directions, they were at a loss. One of them returned a confused look, when he was asked about the Delhi Police Museum. He evaded the question by saying, ‘Only two days ago was I posted here, so I don’t have much knowledge about the nearby locations.’ Finally, a direction board was discovered, giving out the way to the museum, which is located in Kingsway camp in Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar in north Delhi.
But it was surprising to see the lack of names on the visitors’ register. In a day, hardly four to six persons visit the museum on an average. ‘Mostly students of Delhi University, mainly the north campus, visit the museum. They do not come here purposely, but because it is very close to their colleges, they come here for time pass,’ a cop posted there said.
Earlier the museum was located at the police headquarters (PHQ) in ITO. At that time, civilians did not have permission to enter the PHQ premises for a friendly visit to the museum. Therefore. it was shifted to north Delhi in October 2003. There was hope that the number of visitors would go up. Unfortunately, the scarcity of visitors simply continued.
The museum is built on an area of approximately 2,200 square feet. An inspector in-charge conducts research work on a daily basis to find ancient documents and get them placed in the museum gallery. Presently, it has records of the first FIR that was filed on 18 October, 1861 at Sabzi Mandi police station, as well as various weapons and tools used by cops, the changing police uniform, instruments used to communicate and many more interesting insights into the history of Delhi police. The first FIR lodged in 1861 at Sabzi Mandi police station, was when the Indian Police Act was brought under Indian Penal Code and five police stations were built in Delhi. The oldest police stations are Sabzi Mandi, Nangloi, Sadar Bazar, Kotwali and Mehrauli. ‘During those days, the verdict against the criminal would come within two-three days’, inspector Rajender Kalkal (museum in-charge) said.
But the museum is hard to find. Looking for it, one has to brave confusion regarding its location. When traffic policemen standing near Vidhan Sabha were asked for directions, they were at a loss. One of them returned a confused look, when he was asked about the Delhi Police Museum. He evaded the question by saying, ‘Only two days ago was I posted here, so I don’t have much knowledge about the nearby locations.’ Finally, a direction board was discovered, giving out the way to the museum, which is located in Kingsway camp in Guru Teg Bahadur Nagar in north Delhi.
But it was surprising to see the lack of names on the visitors’ register. In a day, hardly four to six persons visit the museum on an average. ‘Mostly students of Delhi University, mainly the north campus, visit the museum. They do not come here purposely, but because it is very close to their colleges, they come here for time pass,’ a cop posted there said.
Earlier the museum was located at the police headquarters (PHQ) in ITO. At that time, civilians did not have permission to enter the PHQ premises for a friendly visit to the museum. Therefore. it was shifted to north Delhi in October 2003. There was hope that the number of visitors would go up. Unfortunately, the scarcity of visitors simply continued.
The museum is built on an area of approximately 2,200 square feet. An inspector in-charge conducts research work on a daily basis to find ancient documents and get them placed in the museum gallery. Presently, it has records of the first FIR that was filed on 18 October, 1861 at Sabzi Mandi police station, as well as various weapons and tools used by cops, the changing police uniform, instruments used to communicate and many more interesting insights into the history of Delhi police. The first FIR lodged in 1861 at Sabzi Mandi police station, was when the Indian Police Act was brought under Indian Penal Code and five police stations were built in Delhi. The oldest police stations are Sabzi Mandi, Nangloi, Sadar Bazar, Kotwali and Mehrauli. ‘During those days, the verdict against the criminal would come within two-three days’, inspector Rajender Kalkal (museum in-charge) said.