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This museum too triggers curiosity

Photo: C. Venkatachalapathy

much light: Interesting exhibits on display at the Police Museum on Jawaharlal Nehru Street. —

PUDUCHERRY: Although Puducherry boasts of a few impressive museums, a relatively unknown storehouse of veritable treasures is the Police Museum on Jawaharlal Nehru Street.

The police official in-charge says that the Police Museum was set up in July 1992, with the aim of educating the public on the police, from the times of the French to the present.

Though the museum has not been set up fully since the recent renovation of the police building, there are many interesting and informative exhibits on display at the small, unique museum. One such is the powerful Thompson gun, which the museum in-charge describes as “the AK 47 of those days.”

The exhibition also features a range of bayonets, swords, javelins and rifles used in the French era. There is also a separate section for small arms.

Original cartridges of all sizes are also on display including the 38 mm rubber bullet, alongside tear gas ammunition that is used till date. Among the grenades, the 3 way grenade that splits into 3 parts while exploding, the dye marker grenade that literally marks the enemy with dye and the stringer grenade containing small pellets within are fascinating.

There are also the predictable yet interesting exhibits, such as French police uniforms, and a whole range of police caps, helmets and belts.

All the exhibits are kept safely under lock and key, and guarded all the time, housed as they are, in the building of the Superintendent of Police (North) office, said the museum in-charge.

“Since the museum is listed among the places of interest in town, foreigners and tourists visit it. But not too many locals do,” he admits.

The museum is open for the public from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. on all days except Sundays.

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