UP govt notifies Ghaziabad, Agra, Prayagraj as metropolitan areas 

A day after the Uttar Pradesh cabinet gave the nod for implementing the Commissionerate system in three districts of Prayagraj, Agra and Ghaziabad, the state home department on Saturday issued a notification declaring these three districts as metropolitan area.

With regard to Ghaziabad, the notification stated that all 23 police stations in the district, including those in rural areas, will be under the jurisdiction of the new Ghaziabad commissionerate. The government, however, is yet to decide on when the new policing system will come into effect and also the location of the commissionerate office in Ghaziabad.

These include the three stations in Loni and one each in Modinagar, Niwari, Bhojpur, Dasna and Muradnagar besides the women police station and two only opened stations at Crossings Republik and Wave City. 

The notification also vested the powers of the executive magistrate with different categories of police officers. 

“The governer hereby appoints all assistant commissioners of police, additional deputy commissioners of police, deputy commissioners of police, additional commissioners of police, joint commissioners of police and commissioner of police of metropolitan areas of Agra, Ghaziabad and Prayagraj as executive magistrates,” the notification stated. 

Further, all additional commissioners of police and joint commissioners of police and the commissioner of police of the metropolitan area were given the powers of additional district magistrates. 

Under the commissionerate system, police officers are also vested with powers of an executive magistrate. 

By way of the notification on Saturday, the appointed additional district magistrates were also vested with the powers of district magistrate under the Criminal Procedure Code and 14 different Acts. 

The Acts include The Uttar Pradesh Control of Goondas Act, 1970, Poisons Act, 1919, Immoral Trafficking ( Prevention ) Act, 1956, Police (Incitement of Disaffection) Act, 1922, Prevention to Cruelty to Animals Act, 1960, the Explosives Act, 1884, the Prisons Act, 1894, the Official Secrets Act, 1923, the Foreigners Act, 1946, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967, the Police Act, 1861, the Uttar Pradesh Fire Services Act, 1944, the Uttar Pradesh Fire prevention and Fire Safety Act, 2005 and the powers under the Uttar Pradesh Gangster and Anti-social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986. 

“The notification means that the entire district will be under the jurisdiction of the Ghaziabad commissionerate. The different levels of police officers have also been provided with powers of executive magistrate and also the different powers under various Acts. It is likely that other modalities like posting of officers etc, may be done in the next couple of days,” said a senior police officer, who wished not to be named. 

With the addition of these three districts, the state now has seven commissionerates, including the previously notified commissionerates of Noida, Varanasi, Kanpur and Lucknow.