Horsing around: How the mounted Mumbai police dream is dying slow death

Unit’s strength of 13 horses down to eight after five die in past 2.5 years, while rest to be sent to Nashik police academy

The mounted unit of the Mumbai police which was started after a gap of 88 years with much fanfare and promise has been left for a slow death. The strength of 13 horses has come down to 8 after five horses died in the past two-and-a-half years. Of the rest, four will soon be sent to the Maharashtra Police Academy in Nashik where they will be used to train cops. The staff at the Marol stable that houses the horses said it’s a matter of prestige to have a mounted force and that many cities in the country have one, but the department has a different plan.

The temporary stable at the Marol police camp was never upgraded. Pics/Anurag Ahire

“Since the outbreak of the pandemic, the utility of the unit has been reduced, there is also the high-cost factor involved in maintaining the unit while the risk involved in using horses for bandobast duties could not be overlooked either. Considering all these factors, we have decided to shift four horses to the Maharashtra Police Academy in Nashik where they will be used for training purposes,” said Rajkumar Vhatkar, joint commissioner of police (administration). Sources said a team of vets recently checked the horses and gave the police department the certificate for their transportation.

Revived after 88 years

The mounted unit of the Mumbai police was disbanded in 1932 by the then commissioner Sir Patrick Kelly on the grounds that the growing number of vehicles on the city’s roads left little space for the movement of the hoofed animals. In 2018, former police chief Subodh Kumar Jaiswal, now the head of the Central Bureau of Investigation, made a blueprint for its revival. Officers had then said that a policeman on horseback was equal to 30 cops on the ground and would command more fear and respect from an unruly crowd compared to personnel on foot. Though the mounted police unit was relaunched in 2020, it never really took off. Sources said Jaiswal’s successors were not keen on having horses for patrolling Mumbai’s streets. “It was not a well-thought-out project and soon became a white elephant. Most of the later police chiefs didn’t want to put resources into it,” said a senior police officer.

In April, horse Badal won a gold medal in the Hacks category at the 40th All India Police Equestrian Championship and Mounted Police Duty Meet

Promises on paper

The unit had a sanctioned headcount of 30 horses at the cost of R1.5 crore, but only 13 came. Six of them were donated by a private player. The government had also cleared a 2.5-acre plot at the Marol police headquarters for a stable, a riding school along with a sand bath and a swimming pool. The animals were supposed to get trained by experts, including from the Army’s horse unit. Though additional provisions were also made in the police budget for the upkeep of the horses, nothing materialised.

Stable, a shambles

A temporary stable erected for the horses in 2020 was never upgraded, said sources. It has been propped up by bamboos collected from scrap, while the horses have been separated from each other, thanks to scrapped window grilles. A tarpaulin sheet covering the structure has many holes, giving it a pity sight. On the death of five horses so far, a police officer said, “Seven horses procured from the Mumbai Race Course were racing horses. They require high maintenance and timely medication, any lapse in their upkeep and medication could have an ill effect on them. Four of them have died in these 2.5 years, their age was also a factor.”

The stable from outside

Logistical challenges

The equestrian cops were crippled due to transportation hurdles. “In case there was a bandobast duty in south Mumbai, the horses needed to be picked from Marol in special carriages and brought to SoBo which would take at least 2 hours. Then the horses had to be rested before they could be used for patrolling. They are animals, they required rest as well and then they had to again travel back to Marol,” said a police officer.  

Risk factor

An equestrian cop fractured his hand when his horse lost balance during a photoshoot on Juhu beach. A constable and an IPS officer were injured while training their horses earlier this year as part of the preparation for a national event for the mounted forces. 

“On a few occasions, we used them during events like Ganpati bandobast but the risk is always there. If a horse kicked someone it could turn fatal. If for any reason the horse went out of control and threw off its rider, then there could even be a stamped-like situation. When they were actually put to use for patrolling at chowpatty, people also raised their fear,” said an officer. 

‘Attached to the horses’

The unit had 35 personnel but its poor state of affairs meant the manpower being used for other duties. “We never knew about horses before. It was only after coming here we got the training and have been taking care of them for the last over two years. We have also got attached to them. If they shut down this unit, it will be a huge personal loss for us,” said a policeman from the mounting unit. “It’s a prestigious thing to have a mounted unit, many police forces elsewhere in the country are keeping their units intact.” 

Another officer said the horses have also brought honour to the Mumbai police. A horse named Badal ridden by IPS officer Harssh Poddar got the gold medal in Hacks category at the 40th All India Police Equestrian Championship and Mounted Police Duty Meet in April. The event was held at the ITBP basic training centre in Bhanu, Panchkula in Haryana. 

13
No of horses procured for mounted unit

2.5 acre
Land cleared for a stable for the police horses

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