90 years of family in police - Daughter carries baton in fourth generation

Manusmriti with a picture of her great-grandfather Harihar Prasad Verma. Flanking her on either side are her father Kamlendra Prasad (left) and grandfather Arbind Prasad

New Delhi, Nov. 5: Great-grandfather Prasad joined the police in 1921. Great-granddaughter Prasad adjusted her cap and took guard today.

Among those who watched Manusmriti Prasad at the passing-out parade in Hyderabad was her grandfather, retired cop Arbind Prasad, and father, serving IPS officer Kamlendra Prasad.

Family score — 90 not out. In between, a millennium had gone by, India had won freedom and two cricket World Cups.

Manusmriti, a 25-year-old Inlaks scholar from Aurangabad, Bihar, who did her MPhil from a Calcutta institute, today became the fourth-generation cop in her family, which has served the police for 90 continuous years, the longest by any family in the country.

“I had no idea that we had reached a milestone,” father Kamlendra laughed when The Telegraph reached him over phone. “It was only when a friend pointed it out that we came to know about it. She is still unaware of this.”

The family’s pre-Independence run started with Manusmriti’s great-grandfather Harihar Prasad Verma, who joined Bihar police as a constable in 1921. He retired as an assistant sub-inspector in 1954 and passed away in 1956.

His son Arbind, who joined Bihar police as a sub-inspector in 1952, retired in 1988 as an additional superintendent and now lives in Patna.

Manusmriti’s father Kamlendra, an Uttar Pradesh-cadre IPS officer, joined the service in 1981. He is now director of the National Institute of Criminology and Forensic Science, a training institute in Delhi.

The whole family was in Hyderabad today for the passing-out ceremony of the National Police Academy to see the latest Prasad carry forward the family baton before she joins Delhi police after completing her training.

The Prasad family’s unbroken 90-year run is eight years more than that of the Stewarts of Vancouver who had the distinction of serving the police for over 80 years.

David Stewart became a member of the Vancouver police department on September 23, 2011 — 82 years after his great-grandfather Arthur joined the service in 1929.

Kamlendra was understandably proud of his daughter, a former student of St Stephen’s College, Delhi, and London School of Economics.

“I am proud of my daughter. I never thought she would join the service, but here she is. She was always disciplined and dedicated. She performed consistently well in all she did. After a year, we are all together with her in Hyderabad and it feels good to be here,” Kamlendra said.

“We have served the police for 90 years, but she is the only woman in the family to have joined the ranks.”

Cops, obviously, don’t bother about things like nervous nineties.