Corps of Military Police (CMP) is the

military police Military police (MP) are law enforcement agencies connected with, or part of, the military of a state. In wartime operations, the military police may support the main fighting force with force protection, convoy security, screening, rear rec ...

of the

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

. In addition, the CMP is trained to handle prisoners of war and to regulate traffic, as well as to handle basic telecommunication equipment such as

telephone A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into e ...

exchanges. They can be identified by their red

beret A beret ( or ; ; eu, txapela, ) is a soft, round, flat-crowned cap, usually of woven, hand-knitted wool, crocheted cotton, wool felt, or acrylic fibre. Mass production of berets began in 19th century France and Spain, and the beret rema ...

s, white lanyards and belts, and they also wear a black

brassard A brassard or armlet is an armband or piece of cloth or other material worn around the upper arm; the term typically refers to an item of uniform worn as part of military uniform or by police or other uniformed persons. Unit, role, rank b ...

with the letters MP imprinted in red. The term 'red berets' is synonymous with the personnel of the

elite corps In political and sociological theory, the elite (french: élite, from la, eligere, to select or to sort out) are a small group of powerful people who hold a disproportionate amount of wealth, privilege, political power, or skill in a group. D ...

of Military Police (CMP), since all ranks of this Corps adorn the exclusive red

s along with white belts to distinguish themselves from other Corps of Army. The role of this Corps is primarily to assist Army formations in maintaining a high standard of discipline of its troops, prevent breaches of various rules and regulations and to assist in the preservation of high

morale Morale, also known as esprit de corps (), is the capacity of a group's members to maintain belief in an institution or goal, particularly in the face of opposition or hardship. Morale is often referenced by authority figures as a generic value ...

of all ranks of the formation.

History

The First section of Indian Corps of Military Police was raised in July 1939, with the name of Force 4 Provost unit and initially was part of the

4th Indian Infantry Division The 4th Indian Infantry Division, also known as the Red Eagle Division, is an infantry division of the Indian Army. This division of the British Indian Army was formed in Egypt in 1939 during the Second World War. During the Second World War, ...

which was the first Indian Formation to be inducted in World War 2. The Provost section was raised by taking soldiers from the 7 and 11 Cavalry Regiment. The recorded date of raising the first Provost Unit is 28 August 1939 and the Unit served in campaigns of North Africa and Burma during the

World War 2 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

and after the successful operations by this newly formed unit during these campaigns, the British Government of India formally sanctioned the formation of Corps of Indian Military Police on 7 July 1942. Initially under the British rule, the Corps was known as 'Corps of Indian Military Police (CIMP)' and after the Freedom of India on 18 October 1947, the corps was re-designated and now is known as 'Corps of Military Police (CMP)',which is now celebrated as Corps Raising Day.

Role and Task of Corps of Military Police

* Policing the Cantonments and Army Establishments * Maintenance of Order and Discipline in the cantonments, Army Establishments and to prevent the breach of Rules and Regulations of the Indian Army by the Soldiers serving in the Regular Army. * Maintaining the movements of Logistics, soldiers and vehicles in the cantonments during peace and war both times * Handling POWs * Controlling stragglers and refugees in war * Assistance to other regiments, soldiers and their families * Aid to Civil Police and is responsible to make liaison with Civil Police, Naval police, and Air Force police * Investigating Cases of the Indian Army * Providing pilot vehicles to Division Commanders, Corps Commanders, Army Commanders and COAS * Providing close protection to the Chief of Army Staff

Band

The CMP Brass Band is the military police's official

military band A military band is a group of personnel that performs musical duties for military functions, usually for the armed forces. A typical military band consists mostly of wind and percussion instruments. The conductor of a band commonly bears the ti ...

. It was raised in 1953 in

Faizabad Faizabad (Hindustani pronunciation: ɛːzaːbaːd is a city situated near the southern banks of Saryu river in Ayodhya district in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. The area of this Faizabad region is administered by Ayodhya Municipal Corpo ...

. In 1966, the band was assigned to privileged duties at the

Rashtrapati Bhavan The Rashtrapati Bhavan (, rāsh-truh-puh-ti bha-vun; ; originally Viceroy's House and later Government House) is the official residence of the President of India at the western end of Rajpath, Raisina Hill, New Delhi, India. Rashtrapati Bh ...

. It received official commendation by the

President of India The president of India ( IAST: ) is the head of state of the Republic of India. The president is the nominal head of the executive, the first citizen of the country, as well as the commander-in-chief of the Indian Armed Forces. Droupadi Mur ...

A. P. J. Abdul Kalam in 2003. It was nominated by the army to take part in the tri-services band concert in 1994 at

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, ( the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million As of 2021, Pune Metropolitan Region is the largest i ...

. This band has performed at Amar Jawan Jyoti during 1977, 1988 and 1993. It has participated in army and the

Delhi Republic Day parade The Delhi Republic Day parade is the largest and most important of the parades marking the Republic Day celebrations in India. The parade takes place every year on 26 January at Rajpath, New Delhi. It is the main attraction of India's Republic ...

s regularly. It also has the distinction of forming part of the largest military band under one conductor creating a Guinness world record on 16 December 1997 in

New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament Ho ...

UN Missions

Soldiers of the Corps served in Different UN Mission contingents at Congo,

Somalia Somalia, , Osmanya script: 𐒈𐒝𐒑𐒛𐒐𐒘𐒕𐒖; ar, الصومال, aṣ-Ṣūmāl officially the Federal Republic of SomaliaThe ''Federal Republic of Somalia'' is the country's name per Article 1 of thProvisional Constituti ...

, Rwanda and

Sierra Leone Sierra Leone,)]. officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country on the southwest coast of West Africa. It is bordered by Liberia to the southeast and Guinea surrounds the northern half of the nation. Covering a total area of , Sierr ...

, and are presently deployed in United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon, UNFIL, Lebanon and UNDOF and

Golan Heights The Golan Heights ( ar, هَضْبَةُ الْجَوْلَانِ, Haḍbatu l-Jawlān or ; he, רמת הגולן, ), or simply the Golan, is a region in the Levant spanning about . The region defined as the Golan Heights differs between di ...

.Corps of Military Police - UN Mission
Indian Army

References

External links

Official website of the Indian Army
{{Indian_Army_Arms_and_Services Administrative corps of the Indian Army Federal law enforcement agencies of India

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...