April 1st, 1936 will always remain etched in golden letters in the history of Odisha, as on this date both the state of Odisha and the Odisha Police were born. The new state was formed by taking some portions of Madras presidency and Central province. The new province constituted of six districts.

Perhaps, police administration, in some form or the other, has been in-vogue since the inception of human civilization. In the context of our country, a brief mention about policing is found in “Manu Smruti” codified by Manu, the great law- giver. Kautilya, a great scholar and diplomat of the Mauryan period described the duties and functions of the police in “ARTHA SHASTRA”. In the ancient state of Kalinga “Atabika “ police were being employed to control civic unrest. During those days the police officials were known as “RAKSHIMAAH”.

During the medieval period successive rulers like Ananga Bhim Dev, Pratap Rudra Dev, Mukunda Dev etc., used “DANDA PAIKAS” for policing in their jurisdiction. However, during the Moghul period the police administration was under the charge of ’Kotwal’ whose duty was to maintain order and peace in his jurisdiction.

After Moghuls and Afghans the Marathas ruled over Odisha for about a century. They continued with the system of village police introduced by the Moghuls. However, with the advent of the Britishers a new system of policing was introduced in Odisha from 1803. During the British rule, the land holders and Jamindars were required to appoint and maintain police force within their respective estates. In 1829, the post of Supdt. of Police, was abolished and the office of the Magistrate was transferred from the judge to the Collector. The Magistrate was the controlling officer of the police who were known as Darogas. In fact, Darogas enjoyed absolute powers.

There was widespread discontentment against the police tyranny in 1855 in Madras. In 1857 the Paikas openly revolted against the British rule. As a result of these developments a commission was set up by the House of Commons to enquire into the administration of justice and the police system in India. Based on the recommendations of the Commission the police Act (Act V of 1861) was passed which is the basis for policing till date not only in Odisha but also in most parts of the country.

In 1936 the Odisha Police was formed in sync with formation of the state of Odisha which comprised of 4000 policemen approx. of all ranks taken together. Since the police personnel belonged to three different, heterogeneous police forces namely Bihar – Odisha, Madras presidency and Central provinces, some genuine difficulties were being faced by the police administration in managing the force. Moreover, a good number of policemen returned to Madras and Central provinces which led to dislocation in police work for some time.

Mr. E.A.O. Perkin was the first I.G. of Police of Odisha Police and Mr. I.C. Mcnally was the first A.I.G. of Police who was also in-charge of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

There were 8 Ss.P in the province out of which six were in charge of six districts and remaining two Ss.P were in-charge of the Railways and the CID.

In 1937, there was a general election in which the Congress party won 36 seats out of 66 assembly seats. Since the Congress was unwilling to form a Govt., an interim Govt., was formed which was headed by the Maharaja of Paralakhemundi. Thus, on 19.7.1937 Odisha Police came under a popular Govt., for the first time. Between 1939 to 1945, due to outbreak of the world war –II, the police was under great strain due to multifarious activities relating to the war efforts of the Govt. and various agitational activities undertaken by the Congress from time to time. During this period some trained signalmen were sent from the Ganjam armed police to take part in the war though many other officers and men who had volunteered for military service were not allowed to join the armed forces as the Govt., could not afford to weaken the civil administration.

The Odisha Police Manual Rules (PMR) was compiled in 1940 as a hand manual dealing with powers, functions and duties of the police at various levels.

On 15 th August,1947 India achieved independence. With the ushering in of independence, the Odisha Police became a people’s police, a significant departure from being a colonial police. Mr. J.E. Pearman became the 1 st Inspector General of Police of the State after the Independence.

In 1948, 25 feudatory states were merged with Odisha, thus increasing the geographical size of the state significantly. With the integration of the princely states in Odisha the number of districts became 11. In 1949, the state of Mayurbhanj was merged into Odisha and it became a district of the southern police range. However, later it was included in the northern range w.e.f. 1.1.1950, for administrative convenience. In Nov’ 1949 the district of Kalahandi consisting of Dhama Nagar sub-division of the then Bolangir district and Nuapada sub- division of Sambalpur district was included in the northern range. Thus , the numbers of districts increased to 13. Of the two ranges the northern range, having its Hqrs. at Sambalpur comprised of Sambalpur, Bolangir, Dhenkanal, Sundargarh, Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar and Kalahandi districts and OMP 2 nd Bn., and Police Training College at Angul. The Southern range with its Hqrs. at Cuttack, comprised of Cuttack, Puri, Balasore, Ganjam, Koraput and Phulbani districts and the OMP 1 st Bn., . The Railway police force remained under the control of D.I.G. Southern range but it was subsequently brought under the D.I.G. CID, w.e.f. 1.3.1950.

After retirement of Mr. Pearman on 31.3.1948 Mr. C.M. Wright Neville became the I.G. of Police. After Mr. Neville, Mr. B.Roy took over charge as I.G. of Police on 19.8.51. After his retirement on 11.10.1958 Sri R.C. Dash took charge of I.G. of Police.

In 1955, the new capital of the state was established at Bhubaneswar.

A new police range was created at Berhampur w.e.f. 1.1.1960

Sri R.C.Das left the office of I.G.P. on 16.5.1960 and joined as a member of the Odisha Pay Committee. He was succeeded by Sri J.C. Ghosh as I.G. of Police.

In 1964, after a serious communal riot in Rourkela followed by state-wide students’ agitation, a new police district namely Rourkela was created and a new range namely Western Range consisting of Sundargarh , Keonjhar and Rourkela police districts was carved out of the Northern Range.

For proper intelligence work the post of DIG, Intelligence was created with effect from 14.05.1964 by taking out the special branch from the control of the DIG, CID and Railways.

For better supervision and coordination over the vastly expanded signals establishment in the state, the post of DIG, Technical was created w.e.f. 17.12.1971.

In order to ensure better policing of the state capital a new police district namely Bhubaneswar police district was formed w.e.f. 1.4.1975.

In 1979, a state-wide agitation was launched by the Havildars and Constables of Odisha Police under the leadership of Latifur Rahaman which subsided after a brief turmoil.

In 1981, Cuttack district was divided into two districts viz:- Cuttack Rural and Cuttack Sadar from administrative point of view. In 1984 a new police range namely South-Western range was formed having its Hqrs. at Sunabeda, carving it out of the Southern Range, Berhampur. In the same year a new police district was formed at Berhampur, carving it out of Ganjam district. The following year another range namely Central range, with its Hqrs. at Cuttack, was carved out of the southern range.

In 1992, 4 new districts namely Gajapati, Rayagada, Malkangiri and Nawarangapur were formed Subsequently in 1993, 9 more districts namely Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Nayagarh, Khurda, Bhadrak, Nuapada, Angul and Sonepur were formed. Again in 1994, 03 new districts namely Boudh, Jharsuguda and Deogarh were formed.,thus increasing the number of districts to 32. (32 Police districts against 30 Revenue districts) .

After enactment of the Odisha Military Police Act (Odisha Act VII of 1946) the Odisha Military Police was formed on 1 st March, 1946. Soon after its creation this force had to handle serious situations in places like Bhadrak, Ib, Barang, Rampur, Cuttack etc. Due to strenuous nature of work of the military police and need for more personnel its strength was increased w.e.f. 1 st March, 1947. The strength was further increased with the formation of a Gurkha Military Police unit. On 1 st March 1948, after merger of feudatory States in the Province of Odisha, there was a re-organisation of the police organization and the 2 nd Battalion of Odisha Military police was established. This Battalion had both Gurkha and Odia companies. While the Bn. Headquarters was at Dhenkanal, two detachment camps of this battalion were functioning at Nayagarh and Jharsuguda. Subsequently, other Battalions came up at different places of the State. At present, there are altogether 8 Battalions and one India Reserve Battalion.

The name “Odisha Military Police” remained in vogue till 1980 .consequent upon enactment of the Odisha Military Police (Amendment) Act 1980, the name “Odisha Military Police’’ was changed to “Special Armed Police”. The headquarters of the SAP is at state Police Hqrs, Cuttack and it is under the general control and direction of the Director General and Inspector General of Police.

Annual central grant known as “Modernisation grant “ was made available to all the states by the Centre from 1969-70 onwards. Under this scheme Odisha Police received funds to purchase wireless equipments, motor vehicles, scientific and technical equipments etc for modernization of the Odisha Police. A full-fledged forensic science laboratory was established at Bhubaneswar under the control of DIG, CID, providing serological, chemical and other expert- examination facilities within the state.

Home-guards organization, as an auxiliary force, was set up in Odisha in the year 1962. In 1973 the post of Deputy Commandant General, Home-guards and Fire Service was sanctioned. However, in 1978 the Fire service and Home guards organization was taken out of the control of Police organization and started functioning independently under the Commandant General, Home-guards and Inspector General, Fire Service under the Home Department. The status of the head of the department was up-graded to the rank of Director General in 1985.

In the 1980s, left wing extremism raised its hydrahead after a gap of about a decade in certain parts of southern districts of Odisha, namely, Koraput, and Ganjam. After the division of Koraput district into 4 districts viz:- Koraput, Rayagada, Malkanagiri and Nabarangpur district and division of Ganjam district into Ganjam and Gajapati districts, the left wing extremism was noticed taking an ascendance in the districts of Malkangiri, Rayagada, and Gajapati. In later part of 1990s the left wing extremism also spread to the districts of Mayurbhanj, Keonjhar and Sundargarh located in the Northern Odisha.

Odisha Police has kept pace with others in modernisation by procuring latest gadgets and arms and ammunition, in building up infrastructure and upgrading the skill of its personnel by providing latest training.