Historic crime branch building to be redeveloped
'The building's front-end made of stone is still in proper condition, but the iron beams at the back have rusted and are becoming increasingly unsafe by the day,' a senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer told Hindustan Times. Structural auditors who examined the century-old building recommended that it be demolished because of the weak back-side, he said.
'Besides, the overall strength of the city police force has increased and we are facing a severe space crunch at the headquarters,' the officer said. Apart from the crime branch, the new, six-storeyed building will house the CCTV monitoring centre, the administrative branch and meeting rooms, the officer noted.
Historical building
When Mumbai was rocked by demonstrations in 1908 in light of the arrest of nationalist leader Bal Gangadhar Tilak on charges of sedition, the colonial government turned its attention to gathering intelligence on political activists. On June 8, 1909, it set up the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which replaced the detective branch and started functioning as an elite organisation placed under the control of a deputy commissioner of police.
The two-storeyed building, which was used to house Haj pilgrims for a few weeks, was allotted to the newly-formed CID of the Imperial Police in June 1909 itself. Referred to as the GBCB (Greater Bombay Crime Branch) CID, it investigated crimes of sensitive, political and religious nature – its mandate being largely similar to the current crime branch.
The Special Branch, which gathered political intelligence and information about political activists and foreigners visiting India, was carved out of the CID in 1920. It moved to a building close to St Xavier's School around ten years later while the CID continued operating out of its earlier premises.
In recent decades, the two-storey building has witnessed the interrogation of several hardened criminals and celebrities. Their ranks include terrorist Ajmal Amir Kasab, who had landed in the city along with nine other members of the Pakistani terror outfit Lashkar-e-Taiba on November 26, 2008 and held the city to siege over the next 72 hours, killing 164 people.
Bollywood actor Sanjay Dutt was interrogated in the building by former police commissioner Rakesh Maria, in connection with the March 1993 serial blasts in Mumbai. Underworld dons Rajendra Sadashiv Nikalje aka Chhota Rajan, Arun Gawli, Abu Salem and Ejaz Lakdawala were also detained and interrogated in the building by crime branch officers.
The demolition of the building will begin in another month or two, said a senior police officer.
'Some sections of the crime branch will be shifted to a 15-storey building in Bawla Compound in Chinchpokli till the new building is ready,' the officer said. 'However, the joint commissioner police (crime) and some other officers will move to the fourth floor of the new building in the commissioner's office.'
The Chinchpokli building houses the office of the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) across three floors, the officer added.
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