India to have its first police museum in Delhi

New Delhi: India will soon have its first national police museum as the central government has decided to establish the unique facility in Lutyens' Delhi, a senior official said on Sunday.

The museum - depicting the history, artefacts, uniforms and gear of central and state police forces - will come up as an underground facility in the premises of the national police memorial in Chanakyapuri area of the national Capital.

The museum is expected to be inaugurated on October 21 (Police Commemoration Day) at the hands of either Prime Minister Narendra Modi or Home Minister Rajnath Singh.

The project is being steered by the Intelligence Bureau and as per reports, IB Director Rajiv Jain had convened a meeting on the matter last month to expedite the process.

"While some state police forces and paramilitary forces have their small museums, this is the first time that the country will have a national-level permanent exhibition on policing subjects. It will also act as a repository of knowledge for researchers on policing subjects," the senior official said.

Official sources said the central armed police forces (CAPFs), the central police organisations and the state police forces have been asked to collect their historical documents, items, police related gazette notifications and unique weapons and uniforms so that it can be displayed at the museum.

As per the records, the items sought to be put in the first-ever national police museum will include brass insignia, ceremonial and operational head gears and uniforms, batons, belts, distinctive photographs of dog squads, mounted columns and old copies of the Indian Police Act.

Some other items include women in policing, creation of maiden 'mahila' battalions and news clippings of historical significance.