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History
of the state started on November 1, 1956 with the formation of the
existing State of Madhya Pradesh by integrating four regions, namely
17 districts of Mahakoshal, the whole of Vindhya Pradesh, the erstwhile
State of Bhopal and the Madhya Bharat State.
This
sprawling state measuring 1,17,000 Sq. miles had a population of
32 millions at that time and it was the largest state in the country
in terms of area. The state police force had initial problems of
integrating the working of various regions in it's organization,
standardizing structural patterns, and introducing uniformly in
working. This problem, was overcome in a matter of few years and
the regional-bias soon gave place to homogenous forces. The police
force then comprised of 250 gazetted officers and 39,785 non-gazetted
officers and men covering 739 police stations.
Today,
with the increase in population, which stood at 669 lacs according
to 1991 census, the State Police has grown into a massive force
comprising 1018 gazetted officers and 92,476 non-gazetted officers
and men and diversified into many specialized branches.
During
these years, the police force saw 12 Inspectors-General of Police,
and with the up gradation of IG's post to Director-General of Police,
19 DGs of Police. The first I.G. of the new State Police was Shri
B.G. Ghate, who was succeeded by Shri K.F.Rustumji in 1958.
Shri
Rustamji had the distinction of leading the force for 7 years before
he was chosen to create a new Central Force, the Border Security
Force. It was during Shri Rustamji's time that the Police force
achieved many milestones, including starting of Forensic Science
Laboratory in 1964.The present DG Police, Shri S.C.Tripati assumed
charge in February 1999 and has been designated as OSD and EX-Officio
DGP of M.P.
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History
of AJK (Anusuchit Janjati Kalyan)
Madhya Pradesh
has a sizeable population of Scheduled Tribes and scheduled castes,
who have remained cut off from the mainstream for centuries. Most
of them lived in abject poverty under sub-human conditions, and
were exploited by the society in general.
With
the emergence of social-justice as a major concept in our democratic
polity, old laws relating to the underprivileged classes were reviewed
and more empowering social enactments were introduced by the parliament.
At the same time, the role of police began to be conceived, not
as mere enforcement machinery, but as the agents of social change.
Consequently,
it was enjoined on police to play a more decisive role in the implementation
of social laws. The
Government of Madhya Pradesh, recognizing this change and realizing
that normal police structure will not be sufficient to play the
desired role, created specialized police set-up for this. Consequently,
a separate Anusuchit Jati Janjati Kalyan Wing(AJK) was created in
1973, and special AJK police stations look into the complains of
SC/ST persons and investigate cases registered on such complaints.
The network of AJK police stations works under a separate ADG level
officer and form a very important constituent of M.P.Police today.
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History
of SAF (Special Armed Force)
Naxalite
Problem
The state
has the largest tribal population in India, with about a dozen districts
largely tribal populated. They are situated along the borders of
Gujarat and Maharastra in the western portion, adjoining Bihar and
Orissa in the eastern portion and in the heart of the state around
the Kanha National Park. Bastar and Kanker districts have as much
as 72% tribal population. The triabals are known for their native
simplicity, love for wine and dancing and quick retribution of injustice.
Structural
Changes and Modernization
With
the growing use of scientific technology, professionalism and multifarious
urban based problems, the police had to make corresponding organizational
improvements, in training and make technological advancements in
tune with the times.
The
first step in this direction was enacting of Special Act armed force
in 1968.This act has special provisions for better disciplinary
control of armed personnel. To impart specialized training in field
craft, to be able to deal with dacoits and Naxalites, the state
police up graded its training centers and established Armed
Police Training College at Indore in 1982, to cater to the needs
of SAF personnel. Similarly the training college, established in
1906 at Sagar, was up graded as Police Academy later on, with a
new perspective and academic flair to train the directly recruited
Sub-Inspectors and Deputy Superintendents of Police.
Housing
of police-men has been a problem with all police forces in the country
and the M.P. police also faced this problem. Consequently, in 1981,
a separate Police Housing Corporation was established by the state
government for the construction of residential houses of policemen
in far off areas where the PWD would not normally work. The corporation
has constructed nearly 10,000 residential houses of policemen so
far.
The
western part of the state witnessed increased activities of
smugglers in narcotics substances, Mandsaur being the largest opium
producing district in the country. After the passing of Special
Act to deal with narcotics substances, the state police created
a separate Narcotics wing headed by an officer of ADG rank to deal
with this problem in 1996.
Upkeep
of crime records also needed to be computerized with the introduction
of computer technology. As part of the countrywide programme of
computerization of crime records, the state police established its
computer wing in 1977 which was later converted into State Crime
Record Bureau on the lines of NCRB.Subsequently all the districts
were supplied with computers to bring their crime records on the
computer system. Looking to the large size of the state, the state
police set-up was re-organized in 1999 and officers of the rank
of IG were posted to all ranges for better control and supervision
of the work.
Numerous
improvements were made in the communication, weaponry, riot control
methods and traffic control, which need no elaboration. The state
police is officer oriented in working and is rated very high in
its performance amongst all the state police forces in the country
today. Several of its armed battalions are deployed ex-state, since
sixties permanently and are doing excellent work for the maintenance
of law and order and counter-insurgency.
The state police is
looking forward to enter the new millennium with a high head and
history that would make any one feel proud.
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Challenges |
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Dacoit
Problem
The most
important problem which the new State of Madhya Pradesh had to face
was the growing menace of dacoity in the northern districts of Chambal
ravines and the north eastern districts of Chamble ravines and the
north eastern districts of Bundelkhand.
The
problem of dacoity in these areas was rooted in the history of it's
people, the nature of terrain and the primitive life of vendetta.
When the new State of Madhya Pradesh came into being, these areas
were swarming with formidable dacoit gangs.
As
a result, the fabric of law and order in that area was steadily
weakening. Under the stewardship of Shri Rustamji, a scheme was
drawn up for strengthening the Police force and improving wireless
network in that area. The implementation of the scheme, coupled
with the grit shown by officers and men, paid rich dividends and
leading dacoit gangs: namely Putly, the Bandit Queen Phoolan Devi,
Amritlal, Roopa, Gabbar, Kalla and Lakhan Singh which were synonymous
with terror passed into the bowels of history.
Similar
success was achieved in Budelkhand area where dreaded gang of Moorat
Singh and Chaliraja were liquidated.The good work done by the State
Police was recognized and complimented by the president of
India, Dr. Rajendra Prasad on the occasion of the ceremonial parade
held at Gwalior to honor the Police Units taking part in these operations.
The dacoity menace was not completely eradicated, but the backbone
of the problem was broken and in about a decade time, the police
was on the ascendancy. This demoralized the dacoit gangs completely
and they were forced to seek an honorable surrender. In 1972, therefore
with the efforts of the peace mission headed by Shri Jayprakash
Narayan, nearly 550 dacoits surrendered, peace and prosperity returned
to the area after centuries.
The
dacoity problem, however, cropped up again in the eighties with
the formation of the gangs of Malkhan Singh, Mohar Singh and Ramesh
Sikarwar. The State Government had to enact a Special Law in 1981,
the Madhya Pradesh Dakaity Prabhavit Kshektra Adhiniyam, with special
powers to police. Armed with these special powers the police again
moved into action and eliminated most of the notorious gangs in
encounters. Later, Malkhan Singh, Ramesh Sikhawar and Phoolan Devi
surrendered before the Chief Minister, Shri Arjun Singh and again
peace was restored. The special law was repealed thereafter.
The
dacoit problem has not been completely eradicated and a lasting
solution lies largely in terms of socio-economic remedy. Today,
the problem does exist, but within manageable limits.
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Naxalite
Activities
The
State Police had hardly contained the dacoity menace, when in it's
southern-most Bastar area, the presence of naxalities of Peoples
War Group started being noticed in the eighties.
The
Naxalites infiltrated from across the adjoining areas of Andhra
Pradesh. Initially, they used the forests of Bastar as a sanctuary
for shelter, but gradually, after surveying the entire area, they
started delivering "instant-justice" to tribal against
their exploitation by some unscrupulous forest officials.
By
the year 1990, they organized themselves for committing violent
incidents and spread their tentacles into the forest covered regions
right up to the middle of the state in Mandla district. Their activities
assumed threatening postures affecting 3 ranges of the state, with
as many as 18 'Dalams' operating in M.P. Armed with sophisticated
weapons, like AK-47 rifles and trained in remote control explosive
devices, they ambushed police patrolling parties which has taken
a toll of 98 policemen so far. There have also been sporadic instances
of attack on isolated stations and looting of their armory.
The
state government allocated substantial funds to meet this challenge
under the anti-naxalite plan, which helped the state police improve
their resources in the past 5 years. It was therefore, possible
for taking counter measures which have accounted for 40 Naxalites
being killed in 10 encounters and more than 50 Naxalites carrying
rewards on their heads being arrested. The naxalite activities nevertheless,
continue to be a major problem for the state police and a matter
of concern for the state government.
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Communal
Disturbances
The state
faced communal disturbances throughout its history in the post -Independence
period. The districts of erstwhile Madhya Bharat and Bhopal States
have remained particularly communally sensitive because of various
factors and where there are pockets of large population of minority
communities.
Few
districts of the state have been identified as communally sensitive
or hyper sensitive. Consequently, there have been instances of major
communal riots in the state since 1956 onwards. These occurred at
Bhopal(1959), Jabalpur(1961), Raigrah(1964), Indore(1964), Burhanpur(1971),
Khargone(1974), Mhow(1980), Sendhwa(1984), Sehore(1986) and Bhopal
and Ujjain(1992).The riots at the last two places occurred following
the demolition of Ayodhya structure, which engulfed more than a
dozen districts of the state, the worst affected being Bhopal. After
that, however, the state is enjoying a period of relative communal
harmony.
The
state police has a very good track record in dealing with communal
riots, not only for its impartiality of action but also due to the
fact that in none of the judicial enquiries following communal riots,
the police has been indicted for high handiness or impropriety.
In 1984, the state government, issued an order to reward those police
officers who did good work in prevention of communal riots, by way
of two to four increments in pay.
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