Mahatma Gandhi assassination FIR, antique rifles on display at police museum

An FIR about the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, a unique wireless set also used for airing the commentary of the Father of the Nation’s funeral procession and a 450/500 bore gun used by British officers for crocodile hunting are among exhibits on display at the Delhi Police Museum in Kingsway Camp here.

Set up in 2003, the museum also has on display an FIR lodged on October 18, 1861 at the Subzi Mandi police station by one Maiyuddin of Katra Sheel Mahal whose utensils, clothes and a hookah (all worth 45 annas) had been stolen from his house. Another FIR on display is related to the bomb-throwing incident in the Assembly Hall by freedom fighter Bhagat Singh.

The museum, which houses a large number of rifles, police uniforms and other equipment, is regularly frequented by a large number of visitors, mostly schoolchildren. A police employee at the museum said a majority of the visitors are keen to know how criminals used to be tracked during the British Rule. The museum has a unique wireless procured by the Delhi police in 1944 for maintaining law and order during riots. The same wireless set was used to air live commentary on the Mahatma Gandhi’s funeral procession in 1948.

Among other exhibits is a 577-bore double-barrel rifle used by the British officers for elephant hunting. Another rifle, which is a major attraction, is Pakistan-made single barrel 12 bore rifle. Among all old rifles on display, only 303-4MK rifle was being used till the 1990s. There is a 9mm pistol — the only weapon still used by the Delhi police. However, the cost of the weapons has not been displayed with the exhibits at the museum as the then government had bought these and the Delhi police does not have any records about their acquisition.

A senior police officer said the main purpose of setting up the museum was to educate people on how the policing has changed over the years. Spread over a 2,200 square feet area, the museum has an one-point entry. Inspector Rajender Kalkal, who looks after the museum, said the students outnumber other visitors.

The Delhi police does not charge any entry fees from the visitors. “Mostly students are brought over here by their respective schools for study tours. You will find the museum overcrowded in winters,” Mr Kalkal said.

Different kinds of caps and uniforms, worn by police and traffic personnel from the time of British colonial rule to the current era have also been put on display at the museum. While most of the exhibits have been kept in glass almirahs, a few items and pictures of the British-era officers have been put up on the museum walls.

The museum, open from 10 am to 5.30 pm daily, is closed on Saturday, Sunday and all national holidays. Mukesh Yadav, a resident of northwest Delhi’s Pitampura, said he had visited the museum to see the FIR on the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. “The museum provided me an insight into the dress code and working style of the police from the British to the modern era.”

Priti, a resident of South Delhi’s New Friends Colony, said she visited the museum just to go through the letters of the British officials.