Anyone who has filed a complaint at a Kolkata police station and then heard nothing for weeks knows the next step is the hard part. Going up the chain has traditionally meant a trip to Lalbazar, a wait outside an office, and no guarantee of being seen. From this week, that route changes. Kolkata Police has set fixed public hearing hours at every divisional office on Tuesdays and Thursdays, with a designated senior officer whose only job during those hours is to hear unresolved complaints.
The arrangement runs under the state government’s “Apnar Sarkar Apnar Pashe” grievance initiative, and it is aimed squarely at the kind of case that stalls: a theft complaint that has not moved, a cybercrime report that nobody seems to be investigating, or a complaint that was registered under a lighter section than the complainant believes it deserved. Here is how it works and how to use it.
When and Where to Go
The public hearing window is Tuesday and Thursday, 10.30 am to 1 pm, at the office of the deputy commissioner for your police division. Kolkata Police is organised into divisions (North, Central, South, East, South East, South West, Port, and so on), each headed by a deputy commissioner, and each division covers a cluster of police stations. Your local thana falls under one of these divisions, and that division’s DC office is where you go.
Each deputy commissioner has been instructed to nominate an assistant commissioner as the nodal officer for the initiative. That officer is relieved of other duties for the hearing window so the desk is actually staffed. Joint commissioners and additional commissioners will also visit divisional offices during these sessions to review cases that are complex or that the division has not handled satisfactorily.
The practical upshot is that you no longer need to travel to the Lalbazar headquarters to reach a senior officer. Whether a complainant is taken directly to a joint or additional commissioner will depend on how the nodal officer assesses the seriousness of the case, so expect a screening step first.
What Kind of Complaint This Is For
This is not a replacement for the police station. If something has just happened to you, you still go to your local thana and register a complaint or FIR there. The hearing sessions are for what happens afterwards, when a case is already on file and you believe it has stalled or been mishandled.
The categories officers have cited include theft cases where the investigation has not progressed, cybercrime complaints (an area where Kolkata residents routinely report slow follow-up), and disputes over how a complaint was classified, since the section a case is registered under affects how seriously it is pursued. Complaints that a divisional inquiry has already examined but not resolved to the complainant’s satisfaction are exactly what the senior-officer review is meant to catch.
How Your Complaint Gets Tracked
The system has been designed with a paper trail in mind, which matters because the usual complaint about escalation in Kolkata is that nothing gets written down. When you approach the divisional office, the receiving officer uploads your name, mobile number and the details of your grievance to the central Apnar Sarkar Apnar Pashe portal. The same details are entered in a master register kept at the office.
Behind that, there is a reporting ladder. Nodal assistant commissioners send daily action-taken reports to Lalbazar and to the deputy commissioner of headquarters-II. Divisional deputy commissioners and joint commissioners send daily numbers on how many people came in and how many complaints were logged, and then a weekly summary every Friday to the additional commissioner of police-II. Lalbazar has also been asked to keep evening hours free of routine administrative work so that incoming reports and public follow-ups can be processed the same day.
A senior officer overseeing the project has said it will be reviewed periodically, with Nabanna monitoring the results, and that the format may be adjusted as it settles in.
Practical Tips Before You Go
- Carry a copy of your original complaint or FIR, with the case number and the name of the police station. Without a reference, the officer cannot pull up your file.
- Bring a one-page written summary: what happened, when you complained, what the police station told you, and what has not happened since. Hearings are short and a clear timeline helps.
- Note the name and designation of the officer who receives your grievance, and ask for the reference under which it has been entered in the register and the portal.
- Take your mobile phone. Your number is part of the record and follow-up contact will come to it.
- If your issue is an emergency or a crime in progress, do not wait for Tuesday. Call 100 or go to the nearest police station. These hearings are for stalled cases, not live incidents.
- Complaints about the conduct of a police officer, as opposed to the progress of a case, can also go to the existing Public Grievance Cell at 18 Lalbazar Street or by email to grievance@kolkatapolice.gov.in.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need an appointment for the Tuesday and Thursday hearings?
No appointment system has been announced. The offices are meant to be open to walk-in complainants between 10.30 am and 1 pm on both days. Arriving early is sensible, since the window is only two and a half hours.
Which office do I go to?
The office of the deputy commissioner for the police division that covers your local police station. If you are unsure which division that is, the station itself can tell you, and the Kolkata Police website lists divisions and their DC contacts.
Can I complain about a case from a police station outside Kolkata Police jurisdiction?
No. This arrangement covers Kolkata Police divisions only. Areas under Bidhannagar, Barrackpore, Howrah or other commissionerates, and district police areas, are not part of it.
Will I definitely meet a joint commissioner or additional commissioner?
Not automatically. The nodal assistant commissioner receives every complaint. Senior officers review cases they judge to be complex or inadequately handled, and whether you meet them in person depends on that assessment.
Is this the same as the Apnar Sarkar Apnar Pashe portal online?
It is the police-specific, in-person channel feeding into the same portal. Your details are uploaded there, which is how the case gets tracked and reported upward.
The Bottom Line
Fixed hours, a named officer and a written register are basic things, but they are the three things that have usually been missing when a Kolkata resident tries to push a stuck case. The value of this system will depend entirely on whether the daily and weekly reporting actually leads to cases being reopened rather than just counted, and that will take a few months to judge. For now, the practical advice is simple: if you have a complaint that has gone quiet, gather your paperwork, turn up at your divisional DC office on a Tuesday or Thursday morning, and get a reference number. Readers dealing with other government-facing complaints may also find our guides to the new 24-hour bus complaint helplines and the Bengali-language rule at government counters useful.
Sources: Kolkata Police Commissioner’s directive to divisional deputy commissioners on the Apnar Sarkar Apnar Pashe grievance initiative, as reported by Urban Acres on 12 and 14 September 2026, and the Kolkata Police Public Grievance Cell page at kolkatapolice.gov.in. Timings and office arrangements are as announced and may be revised after the periodic review the department has described.
Featured image: a Kolkata traffic police officer on duty at a city junction, photo by Piero Regnante on Unsplash.
