The West Bengal Police is one of the two

police force The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...

s of the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

state State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

West Bengal West Bengal (, Bengali: ''Poshchim Bongo'', , abbr. WB) is a state in the eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabitants within an area of . West Bengal is the fou ...

. The other being the Kolkata Police, which has a separate jurisdiction across

Kolkata Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, comme ...

. The West Bengal Police was reorganized under provisions of the Police Act 1861 during the

British Raj The British Raj (; from Hindi ''rāj'': kingdom, realm, state, or empire) was the rule of the British Crown on the Indian subcontinent; * * it is also called Crown rule in India, * * * * or Direct rule in India, * Quote: "Mill, who was him ...

. It is headed by an officer designated as the Director General of Police who reports to the State Government through the Home (Police) Department. Shri Manoj Malaviya, an IPS officer of the 1986 batch is the DG & IGP of West Bengal Police since December 28, 2021. The West Bengal Police has jurisdiction concurrent with the twenty-two revenue districts of the State (excluding the metropolitan city of

) which comprises one of the two general police districts of West Bengal under the Police Act 1861. The other general police district consists of the major portions of the metropolitan area of

, and has a separate police force ( Kolkata Police Commissionerate) constituted and administered under the Calcutta Police Act 1866 & Calcutta (Suburban Police) Act 1866. This arrangement, unique in India, was conceived during colonial times when Calcutta was the capital of British India. The city police have been kept independent of the state police force.

Oraganisational Structure

West Bengal Police Ten Police Ranges in three zones and a Railways zone.

Police commissionerates

A police commissionerate is a law enforcement body especially in the urban parts of the state. The commissionerate is headed by a Commissioner of Police. There are Six commissionerates under West Bengal Police for Urban Area policing. The

Howrah Howrah (, , alternatively spelled as Haora) is a city in the Indian state of West Bengal. Howrah is located on the western bank of the Hooghly River opposite its twin city of Kolkata. Administratively it lies within Howrah district, and is ...

Chandannagar Chandannagar french: Chandernagor ), also known by its former name Chandernagore and French name Chandernagor, is a city in the Hooghly district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is headquarter of the Chandannagore subdivision and is ...

, Asansol-Durgapur & the

Siliguri Siliguri, ) is a major tier-II city in West Bengal. It forms "Twin Cities" with the neighboring district capital of Jalpaiguri. The city spans areas of the Darjeeling and Jalpaiguri districts in the Indian state of West Bengal. Known as the ...

Police commissionerates are headed by Commissioner of Police (CP) who are of the rank of

Deputy Inspector General of Police A Deputy Inspector General of Police (abbreviated as DIG) is a high-ranking official position in Police in Bangladesh, India, Kenya, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Nigeria and Sri Lanka. India Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) is a ...

(DIG) while the Bidhanagar and

Barrackpore Barrackpore (also known as Barrackpur) is a city and a municipality of urban Kolkata of North 24 Parganas district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is also a part of the area covered by Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (K ...

police commissionerates are headed by Commissioner of Police of the rank of

Inspector General of Police An Inspector General of Police is a senior police officer in the police force or police service of several nations. The rank usually refers to the head of a large regional command within a police service, and in many countries refers to the most se ...

(IGP). All these police commissionerates are under the direct control of Director general of police. * Asansol–Durgapur Police Commissionerate *

Barrackpore Police Commissionerate ) , mission = , formedyear = 2012 , formedmonthday = 20 January , preceding1 = , dissolved = , superseding = , employees = Commissioner of Police Deputy commissioners Additional Deputy Commissioners Assistant Commissioners Pol ...

Bidhannagar City Police , mission = , formedyear = 2012 , formedmonthday = 20 January , preceding1 = , dissolved = , superseding = , employees = , volunteers = , budget = (2021-22 est.) , legalpersonality = , country ...

Chandannagar Police Commissionerate , mission = , formedyear = 2017 , formedmonthday = 30 June , preceding1 = , dissolved = , superseding = , employees = Commissioner of Police Deputy commissioners Additional Deputy Co ...

Howrah City Police , mission = , formedyear = 2011 , formedmonthday = 1 September , preceding1 = , dissolved = , superseding = , employees = Commissioner of Police Deputy commissioners Additional Deputy Commissioner ...

Siliguri Police Commissionerate ) , mission = , formedyear = 2012 , formedmonthday = 5 August , preceding1 = , dissolved = , superseding = , employees = Commissioner of Police Deputy commissioners Additional Deputy ...

Organisational divisions

Zones

The police administration in the state is divided into three police zones and a Government Railway Police (GRP) Zone, each headed by an

. Each Zone consists of one or more Ranges headed by an officer designated as the

(or Special Inspector General of Police). In all, there are 28 police districts (including four consisting of Government Railway Police districts), each headed by a

Superintendent of Police Superintendent (Supt) is a rank in the British police and in most English-speaking Commonwealth nations. In many Commonwealth countries, the full version is superintendent of police (SP). The rank is also used in most British Overseas Territories ...

. The three Zones are ''South Bengal Zone'', ''Western Bengal Zone'' and ''North Bengal Zone'', and an office of the ''IGP Railways''. Besides, there are some other IGP ranked officers in the following department: Coastal Security, Fire & Emergency Services, Training, Provisioning, Armed Police (AP), Enforcement Bureau (EB), Administration, Law & Orders, Telecommunications, CID, Traffic, WBPRB, SVSPA, CIF, STF, Vigilance Commission etc.

Ranges

Each Range comprises two or more districts or one district divided into multiple police districts. The Range is headed by a

(DIG). In West Bengal there are 10 ranges. Besides, there are DIG ranked officers in the department of Traffic, Railways, States Crime Records Bureau (SCRB), CID West Bengal, Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB), AP Barrackpore, AP Eastern Frontier Rifles (EFR) Salua, AP North Bengal, AP Durgapur, AP Siliguri, Border, Enforcement Bureau (EB), Intelligence Bureau, Fire Services, Head Quarter (HQ), Police Training Center (PTS), Training, Personnel & Weapon, Provisioning, Telecommunication, WBNVF, Civil Defence etc.

Districts

Each Police District is either coterminous with the Revenue district or in the case of Government Railway Police districts, is located within a number of revenue districts. It is headed by a District Superintendent of Police (or simply called Superintendent of Police). Each district comprises two or more Sub-Divisions, several Circles and Police Stations. But in recent times, several districts are divided into police districts for better police administration. Each of those police districts are headed by an SP.

Sub-Divisions

Each Sub-Division is headed by one Police officer of the rank Deputy Superintendent of Police (members of West Bengal Police Service, a directly recruited officer or one promoted from the ranks) or an Assistant Superintendent of Police (members of Indian Police Service). In West Bengal, the officer who heads a Sub-Division is known as SDPO i.e. Sub Divisional Police Officer.

Circles

A Circle comprises several Police Stations within a sub-division. An

Inspector of Police Inspector, also police inspector or inspector of police, is a police rank. The rank or position varies in seniority depending on the organization that uses it. Australia In Australian police forces, the rank of inspector is generally the ne ...

who heads a police circle is the Circle Inspector of Police or CI.

Stations

A Police Station is the basic unit of policing, responsible for prevention and detection of crime, maintenance of public order, enforcing law in general as well as for performing protection duties and making security arrangements for the constitutional authorities, government functionaries, representatives of the public in different legislative bodies and local self governments, public figures etc. A Police Station is headed by either a Sub-Inspector (lower subordinate rank), mostly in rural areas or an Inspector (an upper subordinate rank), mostly in urban areas. Police outposts are headed by a Sub-Inspector or Assistant Sub Inspector. After the year 2009 both ASI and SI have equal investigation power and both serve as duty officers.

Police ranks

The Director General functions from the West Bengal Police Directorate, located in the Writers' Buildings, the State Government's main Secretariat in Central Kolkata. He is assisted by a team of senior officers from the ranks of Additional Director General & Inspector General of Police to Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG — a post equivalent in rank and status to the Superintendent of Police). Officers of the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police are selected by the

West Bengal Public Service Commission The Public Service Commission, West Bengal or PSCWB (Bengali: পশ্চিমবঙ্গ জনসেবা আয়োগ) is the state agency authorized to conduct the Civil Services Examination for entry-level appointments to the vario ...

through the

West Bengal Civil Service West Bengal Civil Service (Executive), popularly known as W.B.C.S.(Exe.), is the civil service of the Indian state of West Bengal. For the WBCS (Exe) and other comparative posts, Public Service Commission of West Bengal arranges competitive ex ...

(Executive & other services) examinations. In addition to this, the directly recruited Sub Inspectors of Police may also become Deputy Superintendent of Police on promotion. The West Bengal Police maintains the following ranks:

Organisation

The Police Manual of West Bengal Police was compiled and issued during British Raj and is known as the Police Regulations of Bengal(PRB), 1943 and with subsequent modifications and corrections, is the guiding source of internal Police Organization and Administration under its area of responsibility. The WBP is divided into a number of units:

Local Intelligence Unit

Post 2014 Burdwan blast, which unearthed Bangladesh-based militant group Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh, middle-east's terrorist group

Islamic State An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic ter ...

and Pakistan's

Inter-Services Intelligence The Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI; ur, , bayn khadamatiy mukhabarati) is the premier intelligence agency of Pakistan. It is responsible for gathering, processing, and analyzing any information from around the world that is deemed relevant ...

terror module, the need for strengthening the local intelligence gathering mechanism was first felt. Following the incident the state govt has set up a new intelligence agency to counter terrorism, bust terror modules and invigilate suspicious movements in West Bengal and also to foil militant infiltration into the state.

Armed Police

The Armed Battalions consisting of State Armed Police (SAP), Eastern Frontier Rifles (EFR) and India Reserve Battalions (IRBs),

Civil Police

The Civil Police consists of the

Criminal Investigation Department The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is the branch of a police force to which most plainclothes detectives belong in the United Kingdom and many Commonwealth nations. A force's CID is distinct from its Special Branch (though officers of b ...

(CID),

Counter Insurgency Force Counter Insurgency Force or (CIF) A Police tactical unit of West Bengal Police with headquarters in Garia, West Bengal was created by the West Bengal state government in 2010 on the lines of Greyhounds in Andhra Pradesh to combat proscribed Na ...

(CIF), Enforcement Branch (EB), Intelligence Branch (IB), Traffic Branch, Police Telecommunications, Training Wing, State Crime Records Bureau (SCRB) & Police Computer Centre (PCC).

STRACO

An elite force named "STRACO" has been created to combat insurgency & terrorism, posted in West Zone to fight Maoist guerrillas. WBP is raising another new "Counter Insurgency" force on the line of Gray Hound Special Force of

Andhra Pradesh Police The Andhra Pradesh Police is the law enforcement agency of the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. Public order and police being a state subject in India, the police force is headed by the Director general of police, Kasireddy Rajendranadh Reddy ...

STF

West Bengal government created new directorate of the Special Task Force under West Bengal Police. The Special Task Force (STF) of West Bengal, formed around three years ago, to combat modern urban organized crimes - terrorism, organized gangs, illegal arms, ammunition, drugs and fake currency across the state is all set to get a police station of its own and a designated court.

SVSPA

The Swami Vivekananda State Police Academy (SVSPA) is the state level police training institution catering to the training needs of West Bengal Police and Kolkata Police. The Academy conducts basic training for DSP Probationers, Cadet Sub-Inspectors of both Armed & Un-Armed branches and Recruit Constables for West Bengal Police and also for Warders and Inspectors of Correctional Services, Sub-Inspectors and Sergeants of Kolkata Police. The Academy also conducts Pre-promotional training for Constables, Asst. SI's and SI's for their promotion to the next rank besides conducting various short in- service training courses on different professional issues. SVSPA is well equipped with in-house faculty members both for academic indoor training and outdoor training. Besides, a number of eminent faculty members from different disciplines take classes for the training programs. These include academicians, experts from Forensic Science Medicine, scientific officers/experts from Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) & Central Forensic Science Laboratory (CFSL), lawyers, judicial officers and senior police officers.

Recruitments

Entries are done at the following ranks: # Recruitments to the posts of Constables / Lady constables, Sub Inspectors and Lady Sub inspectors are done by West Bengal Police Recruitment Board. # West Bengal Police Service: Officers selected through ''

(Group-B)'' etc., examination conducted by

are appointed as Deputy Superintendent of Police. #

Indian Police Service The Indian Police Service ( IPS) is a civil service under the All India Services. It replaced the Indian Imperial Police in 1948, a year after India became independent from the British Raj. Along with the Indian Administrative Service ( ...

: Officers selected through Civil Service Examinations conducted by

Union Public Service Commission The Union Public Service Commission ( ISO: ), commonly abbreviated as UPSC, is India's premier central recruitment agency for recruitment of all the Group 'A' officers under Government of India. It is responsible for appointments to and exam ...

are appointed as

Assistant Superintendent of Police Assistant superintendent, or assistant superintendent of police (ASP), is a rank that was used by police forces in the British Empire and is still used in many police forces in the Commonwealth. It was usually the lowest rank that could be held b ...

during their probationary period. Upon confirmation to the service, they are appointed as

Additional Superintendent of Police Police ranks of India Superintendent of police (SP) is a senior rank in the Indian Police Service The Indian Police Service ( IPS) is a civil service under the All India Services. It replaced the Indian Imperial Police in 1948, a year ...

Eastern Frontier Rifles

The Eastern Frontier Rifles are an armed police force of the WBP, the purpose of which is to control major law & order problems, communal riots and terrorist attacks. Many contingents of EFR are deployed in various disturbed areas of the State. However, in recent years the effectiveness of this force has been weakened by overuse and prolonged deployment at Police Stations for day-to-day law & order duties. The headquarters of EFR is at Salua, near Kharagpur.

Counter Insurgency Force

The specialised force of the CIF was raised by the Government following the worsening situation in the

Jungle Mahals Jungle Mahals, ( jungle estates) was a district formed by British possessions and some independent chiefdoms lying between Birbhum, Bankura, Midnapore and the hilly country of Chota Nagpur in what is now the Indian state of West Bengal.O’Mall ...

. The force was charged with the specific task of curbing presence of the

maoists Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Chi ...

within the state. The force was allowed its own recruiting process so as to select the best men from within the force. The force is headed by an Additional Director General of Police ranked officer.

Insignia of West Bengal Police (State Police)

Equipment

INSAS INSAS or Indian Small Arms System is a family of infantry arms consisting of an assault rifle and a light machine gun (LMG). It was designed by the Armament Research and Development Establishment and manufactured by the Ordnance Factories Bo ...

rifle A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves ( rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with ...

in 5.56mm NATO * OFB Excalibur Rifle - 292 unit on order. *

Revolver A revolver (also called a wheel gun) is a repeating firearm, repeating handgun that has at least one gun barrel, barrel and uses a revolving cylinder (firearms), cylinder containing multiple chamber (firearms), chambers (each holding a single ...

s *

Pistol Auto 9mm 1A The Pistol Auto 9mm 1A, also known as IOF 9mm pistol, is a semi-automatic pistol manufactured by Rifle Factory Ishapore. It's a licensed copy of the Browning Hi-Power, made using tooling acquired from John Inglis and Company. It is the main ...

AK 47 The AK-47, officially known as the ''Avtomat Kalashnikova'' (; also known as the Kalashnikov or just AK), is a gas-operated assault rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×39mm cartridge. Developed in the Soviet Union by Russian small-arms d ...

Heckler & Koch MP5 The Heckler & Koch MP5 (german: Maschinenpistole 5) is a 9x19mm Parabellum submachine gun, developed in the 1960s by a team of engineers from the German small arms manufacturer Heckler & Koch. There are over 100 variants and clones of the MP5, ...

Sterling Submachine Gun The Sterling submachine gun is a British submachine gun (SMG). It was tested with the British Army in 1944–1945 as a replacement for the Sten but it did not start to replace it until 1953. A successful and reliable design, it remained as stan ...

: Indian Version *SLR: Indian Version of

FN FAL The FAL (a French acronym for (English: "Light Automatic Rifle")), is a battle rifle designed in Belgium by Dieudonné Saive and manufactured by FN Herstal (simply known as FN). During the Cold War the FAL was adopted by many countries of th ...

*7.62mm SLR: With special tube attachment. * Lee-Enfield

.303 British The .303 British (designated as the 303 British by the C.I.P. and SAAMI) or 7.7×56mmR, is a calibre rimmed rifle cartridge. The .303 inch bore diameter is measured between rifling lands as is the common practice in Europe which follows th ...

Rifle A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves ( rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with ...

: Indian Version * OFB 12 Bore Pump Action Gun. *51mm Mortar *0.203 Riot Gun *Gas Gun *

Grenade A grenade is an explosive weapon typically thrown by hand (also called hand grenade), but can also refer to a shell (explosive projectile) shot from the muzzle of a rifle (as a rifle grenade) or a grenade launcher. A modern hand grenade ge ...

Notes

References

External links

List of all West Bengal police stations from the West Bengal govt's official site

Criminal Investigation Department, West Bengal
{{authority control State law enforcement agencies of India 1861 establishments in British India Government agencies established in 1861