Mounted Unit remains police's pride

The stable at Old Police Lines is currently filled to capacity, with 10 horses munching on fodder and chickpeas, and generally standing tall, proudly next to their names and birth dates displayed on silver plates right outside the enclosure a contrast to the situation in early 2022, when four tired horses waited out their service period here.

- Hemani Bhandari

The Delhi Police has turned back the clock since February 2022, procuring 26 horses to revive its mostly ceremonial, yet largely popular, Mounted Unit.

This also marks the highest strength of the unit in over a decade, as the last procurement was done in 2007-08 to bring in 35 mounts from the Indian Army's Remount Veterinary Corps in Saharanpur and Uttarakhand.

A senior police officer said that the unit remains significant to the force.

"It's a matter of pride to have this unit," the officer, requesting anonymity, said.

Deputy commissioner of police (provisions and logistics) Vinit Kumar, who is in charge of the Mounted Unit, concurred that mounts were essential for ceremonies and, sometimes, VIP security duties.

"In 2020, the number of mounts fell to four. After the (Covid-19) pandemic, the process to procure them began early in 2022 because they play an important role in ceremonial functions, such as Raising Day, Commemoration Day, Commissionerate Day and various graduation parades. They have historical significance. They also represent Delhi Police in the annual mounted police meet held in different parts of India. We currently have almost the necessary strength required (for the meets)," DCP Kumar said.

The history

The Mounted Unit was started in the 1930s, during the British era, well before Independence and much before the police force reorganised itself to come together as Delhi Police in 1948.