Central Reserve Police Force

Established as the Crown Representative's Police on the cusp of the Second World War in 1939, it was later given its present name following Indian independence.

It is the largest central armed police force, comprising 247 battalions and exceeding a total strength of 301,376 personnel, as of 2019.

History

Originally constituted as the Crown Representative Police in 1939, CRP was raised in response to the political unrest and agitations in the then Princely States of India following the Madras Resolution of the All-India Congress Committee in 1936 and the ever-growing desire of the Crown Representative to help the vast majority of the native States preserve law and order as part of imperial policy.

After Independence, the force was renamed the Central Reserve Police Force by an Act of Parliament on 28 December 1949. This Act constituted CRPF as an armed force of the Union. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the then Home Minister, visualised a multi-dimensional role for it in tune with the changing needs of a newly independent nation. The force played a significant role during the amalgamation of the princely States into the Indian Union. It helped the Union Government discipline the rebellious princely state of Junagadh and the small principality of Kathiawar in Gujarat which had declined to join the Indian Union.

During the early 1950s, the performance of the CRPF detachments in enforcing law and order in Bhuj, the then Patiala and East Punjab States Union and Chambal ravines was appreciated by all quarters.

On 21 October 1959, SI Karam Singh and 20 other CRPF personnel were attacked by the Chinese Army at Hot Springs in Ladakh resulting in 10 casualties. The survivors were imprisoned. Since then, 21 October has been observed as Police Commemoration day nationwide, across all states in India.

In the late 50s and early 60s, contingents of the CRPF were sent to Kutch, Rajasthan, and Sindh borders to check infiltration and trans-border crimes. They were, subsequently, deployed on the Pakistan border in Jammu and Kashmir following attacks launched by the Pakistani infiltrators.

During the Sino-Indian War of 1962, the Force once again assisted the Indian Army in Arunachal Pradesh. Eight CRPF personnel were killed in action. In the 1965 and 1971 Indo-Pak wars also the Force fought shoulder-to-shoulder with the Indian Army, both on the Western and Eastern borders.

For the first time in history, thirteen companies of CRPF were airlifted to join the Indian Peace Keeping Force in Sri Lanka to fight the militant cadres. Besides, CRPF personnel were also sent to Haiti, Namibia, Somalia, and Maldives to deal with the law and order situation there, as a part of the UN Peacekeeping Force.

In the late seventies, when extremist elements disturbed the peace in Tripura and Manipur, CRPF battalions were deployed in strength. Simultaneously, there was turmoil in the Brahmaputra Valley. The CRPF had to be inducted in strength not only to maintain law and order but also to keep lines of communication free from disruption. The commitments of the Force continue to be very high in the Northeast in dealing with the insurgency.

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Organization

Administration

The CRPF is headed by a Director General and is assisted by 3 Additional Directors General, 9 Inspectors General, a Financial Advisor, and a Director (Medical). It is divided into ten administrative sectors, each headed by an Inspector General. Each sector consists of one or more administrative and/or operational ranges, headed by an officer of the rank of deputy inspector general (DIG) of Police. Now, Group Centres are also headed by DIGs. The Financial Advisor of the CRPF has been an Indian Revenue Service officer of the rank of Joint Secretary and also has Deputy Advisors from the Indian Audit and Accounts Service or the Indian Telecom.

Subdivisions

There are 247 battalions of approximately 1,200 each. Each battalion is commanded by a commanding officer of the rank Commandant, and consists of seven CRPF companies, each containing 135 men. Each company is headed by an Assistant Commandant,(Company Commander).

The Ministry of Home Affairs planned to raise 2 Group Centers, 2 Range HQs, 1 Sector HQ, and 12 new battalions including a Mahila (all-female) battalion by 2019.

The CRPF is organised into a headquarters, three attached wings, and four zones. An attached wing is headed by an additional director general and is subdivided into branches which are headed by an inspector general. A zone is either headed by an additional director general or a special director general. A zone is subdivided into sectors where each sector is headed by an inspector general.

Details of the composition of zones:

Central Zone - 8 sectors, 24 Ranges, 19 Group Centres, 91 administrative battalions, 98 operational battalions. 9 Composite Hospitals. 2 Central Workshops, 1 Armament Workshop, 2 Central Training Centres, 3 Recruit Training Centres, and 1 Central Institute of Advanced Training.
Jammu & Kashmir Zone - 6 sectors (including 1 Operations Sector). 80 operational battalions (including Chandigarh 1 Mahila Bn) are deployed in the area of responsibility of this Zone.
Southern Zone - The zone has 3 sectors consisting of 07 Ranges (including one Operations range), 8 Group Centres, 7 Composite Hospitals, 1 Station Hospital, 1 Central Weapon Store, 2 Arms Work Shop, 2 Central Training College, 2 Recruit Training College, 1 Dog Breeding & Training School at Taralu, 1 Improvised Explosive Device School at Pune, 1 College of Information Technology at Bangalore, 1 National Institute of Jungle Craft at Belgaum, 1 Training Node at Hyderabad, CIAT Chittoor, 3 National Disaster Response Force Battalions, 3 Mahila Battalions at Nagpur, Gandhinagar and Bangalore, 38 Administrative Battalions, 19 Operational Battalions and 5 Rapid Action Force (RAF) Battalions.
North East Zone - The zone has 4 sectors consisting of 6 Group Centres, 60 battalions, 1 CoBRA battalion, 1 Central Institute of Advanced Training, 1 Composite Hospital (100 beds), and 2 Composite Hospitals (50 beds).

Major Subunits

Rapid Action Force

The Rapid Action Force (RAF) is a specialised unit under the CRPF. It has a total strength of 15 battalions and was formed in October 1992, as a riot control force to deal with communal and related civil unrest. The battalions are numbered from 99 to 108. The RAF is a zero-response force intended to quickly respond to a crisis.

It was the recipient of the President's color presented by Shri L.K. Advani, then Deputy Prime Minister of India, on 7 October 2003 for "its selfless service to the nation in the 11th year of coming into existence".

The smallest functional unit in the force is a 'Team' commanded by an inspector, which has three components — a riot control element, a tear gas element, and a fire element. It has been organised as an independent strike unit.

One team in each company of the RAF is composed of female personnel to deal more effectively with situations where the force faces women demonstrators.

Special Duty Group

It is a battalion-sized unit of the CRPF tasked with providing security for the outer cordon of the Prime Minister's official residence on 7, Race Course Road and his office in the North Block as well as during outdoor functions. It comprises around 1,000 personnel.

On 20 May 2024, the Parliamentary Duty Group (PDG) of CRPF ceased to function and was merged with the VIP security wing of the force as the security of parliament house was handed over to the CISF by the government due to a security breach issue.

CoBRA

Commando Battalion for Resolute Action (CoBRA) is the special operation unit of CRPF created in 2008 to deal the Naxalite insurgency in India. This specialised CRPF unit is one of the few units of the Central Armed Police Forces in the country that is specifically trained in guerilla warfare. This elite fighting unit has been trained to track, hunt, and eliminate small Naxalite groups. There are currently 10 battalion-sized COBRA units.

10 CoBRA units raised between 2008 and 2011 have been trained, equipped, and deployed.

CoBRA was awarded four Shaurya Chakras, one Kirti Chakra, one PPMG, 117 PMGs, and 1267 DG commendations.

Personnel

Rank structure

The organization is structured mainly on three rank categories which include Gazetted Officers (GOs), Subordinate Officers (SOs), and Non-Gazetted Officers (NGOs). The Assistant Commandants are Group 'A' Gazetted officers, directly appointed upon clearing an exam conducted by the UPSC which is held yearly.

Officers

Other ranks

Being a central Indian police agency and having a high presence of Indian Police Service officers, CRPF follows ranks and insignia similar to other police organizations in India.

List of Directors General

V. G. Kanetkar was the first director general of the Central Reserve Police Force, serving from 3 August 1968 to 15 September 1969. The current director general is Gyanendra Pratap Singh in office since 20 January 2025.

Awards

Members of the CRPF have been awarded 2468 medals.

CRPF bagged the highest number of gallantry medals amongst all paramilitary forces. The force was awarded 30 gallantry medals on Republic Day 2022.

In popular culture

The acronym CRPF has been expanded as "Chalte Raho Pyare Force" (lit. 'Keep moving my friend force' or 'Keep Moving, Beloved Force') since they are constantly on the move from one troubled place in India to another.