Quick answer: The Kolkata Police Museum (also called the Calcutta Police Museum) is at 113 Acharya Prafulla Chandra Roy Road in north-central Kolkata, in a house that once belonged to the reformer Raja Rammohan Roy. It tells the story of the city’s police force and displays objects seized during the freedom struggle, along with the 64 Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose files that West Bengal declassified in 2015. As of October 2026, Kolkata Police’s own website says the museum is open from 11 am to 5 pm, Tuesday to Sunday, and that admission is free.
Kolkata Police Museum at a glance
| Detail | What we verified (October 2026) |
|---|---|
| Address | 113, Acharya Prafulla Chandra Roy Road, Kolkata 700009 (Kolkata Police website) |
| Timings | 11 am to 5 pm (Kolkata Police website) |
| Open days | Tuesday to Sunday, so plan on it being closed on Mondays (Kolkata Police website) |
| Entry fee | Free (Kolkata Police website) |
| Phone | 033 2360 7704 (Kolkata Police website) |
| Size | About 2,000 square feet of display space |
| Time needed | From a few minutes to an hour or two, as the police website puts it |
The Ministry of Culture’s Museums of India directory lists slightly different open days (Monday to Saturday), so if you are planning around a Monday or a Sunday, call the museum first.
History of the building and the museum
The museum occupies one of the Kolkata houses of Raja Rammohan Roy, the social reformer who founded the Brahmo Samaj and campaigned against sati. The Museums of India directory confirms the link to Rammohan Roy and gives 1996 as the year the museum was set up.
Local heritage accounts say the house was later used as a police station and that the station moved to Amherst Street in 1928, after which the building became the residence and office of the Deputy Commissioner of Police, North Division. The earlier version of this article also said Rammohan Roy sold the property in 1830, when he left for England, and that the government took it on lease in 1874. We could not confirm those details on an official source, so treat them as tradition rather than record.
Correction: an earlier version of this article said the museum covers “about 2,000 acres”. Kolkata Police gives the figure as 2,000 square feet, which matches a single historic house.
What to see at the Kolkata Police Museum
According to Kolkata Police, the museum collects, preserves and interprets objects related to the history of the city’s police, including items seized during India’s freedom struggle. The Museums of India directory describes the displays as covering the force before and after Independence and today. Highlights it lists include:
- The Netaji files: 64 files on Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and his family, shown in a separate gallery. The West Bengal government made these files public at the museum in September 2015; they run to more than 12,000 pages and date back to 1937, according to reports at the time.
- A Japanese bomb dropped on Calcutta during the Second World War.
- A pen pistol made in Pakistan, and a cane-stick gun.
- A traffic signal post from the 1930s.
- Arms and ammunition seized from revolutionaries during the independence movement.
The museum also publishes indexes of the files it keeps, which are linked from the museum page on the Kolkata Police website.
Exhibits mentioned in the earlier version
The earlier version of this article listed other exhibits, including a “book bomb” linked to the revolutionary Hemchandra Kanungo (Hemchandra Das) and the magistrate Douglas Kingsford, a letter written from jail by the revolutionary Dinesh Gupta, a pre-Independence police motorcycle and a bullet belt. Hemchandra Kanungo did build a bomb hidden in a hollowed-out law book meant for Kingsford, and Dinesh Gupta did write letters from the condemned cell at Alipore before he was hanged in July 1931. However, we could not confirm on an official source that these particular objects are on display today, so ask at the museum if you want to see them.
The earlier version also said the gallery had grown from three sections to eight, covering early policing, arms, the homicide squad, Lalbazar headquarters, the detective department, the Netaji records and traffic police. The museum’s current gallery arrangement is not published online.
Policing history around Lalbazar
Kolkata Police is headquartered at Lalbazar, in the old heart of the city near Dalhousie Square (BBD Bagh). The earlier version of this article opened with a quotation about the Portuguese building churches, the Dutch forts and the English taverns, said to be shown on a plaque at the museum, and with stories about the taverns of old Lalbazar, a farewell party for Warren Hastings and a carriage drivers’ strike in 1827. We could not trace these stories to a reliable source, so they have been left out of this guide.
How to reach the Kolkata Police Museum
- Landmark: the museum is on Acharya Prafulla Chandra Roy Road (APC Road). The earlier version of this article gave the Manicktala crossing as the nearest landmark; check the address on a map app before you set out.
- By metro: the Blue Line runs along Central Avenue to the west of APC Road. The earlier version suggested getting off at Mahatma Gandhi Road station and taking a bus, auto-rickshaw or taxi from there.
- By rail: Sealdah station is the nearest large railway terminus; Howrah is across the river.
- By taxi or app cab: give the full address, 113 APC Road, since there are several museums in this part of the city.
Tips for visiting
- The museum is small, so it pairs well with other sights in north and central Kolkata on the same day.
- Photography rules are not published online; the earlier version said photos were not allowed, so ask before you take pictures.
- Researchers interested in the Netaji files can check the file indexes on the Kolkata Police website before visiting.
Places to visit nearby
Swami Vivekananda’s Ancestral House on Vivekananda Road is in the same part of north Kolkata. In central Kolkata, you can see Raj Bhavan, the Governor’s residence, and the open spaces of the Maidan. For a riverside break, head to Millennium Park on Strand Road.
Frequently asked questions
Is there an entry fee for the Kolkata Police Museum?
No. As of October 2026, the Kolkata Police website says admission is free.
Is the Kolkata Police Museum open on Monday?
The Kolkata Police website lists the museum as open Tuesday to Sunday, 11 am to 5 pm, so plan on Monday being closed. Another government directory gives different days, so call 033 2360 7704 if your visit depends on it.
Where are the declassified Netaji files kept?
The 64 files that the West Bengal government declassified in September 2015 are displayed in a separate gallery at the Kolkata Police Museum.
Whose house is the Police Museum in?
It is in a house that belonged to Raja Rammohan Roy, the 19th-century social reformer and founder of the Brahmo Samaj.
Details checked in October 2026 against the Kolkata Police museum page, the Ministry of Culture’s Museums of India directory and press reports on the 2015 release of the Netaji files. Confirm timings with the museum before visiting.
