Sandwiched between beautiful golden sandy beaches and alluring lush green hills, Vizag has flourished into a bustling port and industrial city. Thanks to the relentless efforts of the Vizag police, the city continues to remain one of the serene and peaceful cosmopolitan cities in the country. As the Vizag police establishment completed 160 years on Thursday, we got in touch with Vijjeswarapu Edward Paul, a city-based History Researcher to revisit the glorious past of the bygone era. Based on his inputs, here are 8 interesting facts about the Vizag police system you probably didn’t know.
8 interesting facts about the Vizag police system
#1 In 1859, the Government of Madras instituted a range-level police system to maintain the law and order. Two years later, in 1861, the establishment was set up in every district under the Madras Presidency, including Vizagapatam (today’s Visakhapatnam).
#2 All the 21 revenue administrative districts were grouped under five police ranges named as Northern, Western, Ceded Districts, Central, and Southern. Four districts namely, Ganjam, Vizagapatam, Godavari (including most parts of East and West Godavari districts of the present day), and Krishna (consisting of most parts of Krishna and Guntur districts of the present day) were brought under Northern Range. With its headquarters at Waltair, the Northern Range was headed by a Deputy Inspector General of Police.
#3 Led by a Superintendent of Police, Vizagapatam housed the largest police system in the whole of Madras Presidency, at that point in time.
#4 Captain Buck was appointed as the first Superintendent of Police for Vizagapatnam.
#5 The Visakhapatnam Revenue District was bifurcated into two police districts as Visakhapatnam North and Visakhapatnam South in 1946. While the Visakhapatnam North later became Vizianagaram District, the latter was bifurcated in 1983 into Visakhapatnam Urban and Visakhapatnam Rural.
#6 Back in 1908, a Central Training School for Constables was opened at Vizianagaram.
#7 The current residence of the Visakhapatnam City Police Commissioner was originally built to serve as the District Superintendent of Police (DSP) quarters. The building was constructed between 1908 and 1912.
#8 The present residence of the Dy. Inspector-General of Police was once the dwelling of the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Northern Range. Initially taken on a lease, the building was originally the property of a Madras-based shipping company by the name “Gordon Woodroff & Co” and the building was known as “Elswood”. Later the Government acquired the property for Rs 48,500 in 1936.
All the above-mentioned facts have been provided by Vijjeswarapu Edward Paul, a city-based History Researcher. A retired Shipping Manager by profession, the septuagenarian, belying his age, has been collecting data on Vizag from British Library, London, Tamil Nadu Govt. Archives, Christian Theological college Archives at Bangalore and Hyderabad, and other public libraries.
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