The thousand-year-old glorious tradition of espionage in Bengal is historically well-established. Kautilya's Arthashastra describes in detail a well-organized and effective spy force of the Mauryan Empire in the third century BC. In 1857 after the Sepoy mutiny (which Karl Marx called the first independence struggle of the subcontinent), the Administration of the East India Company in the Indian subcontinent came to an end and the British government assumed direct authority. The history of the origin of the Special Branch of Bangladesh Police is closely related to the history of this Police force of British Regime in the sub continent. The British Empire was determined to form a civilian force alongside the military in the sub continent. Following this, the police force was formed under the Police Act in 1861. After the formation of Police force the authority came to realize the need for a new intelligence wing to control the Swadeshi movement. During that period British officer Major- General Sir William Henry Sleeman took efforts to collect and distribute field level intelligence under the direction of the central British Government to suppress thugs. Based on the report sent earlier, Lord Bentinckt created the "Secret Services" department in 1835 with Sleeman as its head. In 1835, a post of "General Superintendent" was created to collect and distribute information on thugs throughout India from about a dozen police superintendent's offices spread across the country, the first post being held by William Sleeman. Lord Lytton, the Viceroy of British India during his reign (1876-1880) first thought of an Intelligence Branch of the police to keep the British rule protected from domestic adversaries. In gathering information about those who were secretly active against the British rule, Lord Lytton said, “It is by now no means desirable to create an extensive system of secret police but it is certainly important to pay great attention to all sorts of information regarding foreign emissaries’ entrance or unusual political and social phenomena". Lytton's creation of an "Intelligence Branch" of the police included a "Special Intelligence Branch" to collect information by the police in the subcontinent. This was the first attempt by a central government to collect and disseminate intelligence at the field level. After the first independence struggle of the subcontinent against the British in 1857(Sepoy Mutiny) the Great Rebellion, in 1858 the British government undertook extensive administrative reforms. As a result of these reforms, the process of receiving political news under the direct supervision of British officers was subsequently started. The idea of establishing an intelligence agency for the smooth supervision of the state and to suppress anti-British political activities received institutional recognition in the Secretary of State's secret letter No. 11 dated 25 March 1887, which was titled “Collection of Secret and Political Intelligence in India". Soon after the establishment of the Indian National Congress, this letter was sent to the Viceroy. The British officer, Colonel Henderson, through a letter dated 23 July 1887, highlighted the need for a well-organized Special Branch to the Government of India. Viceroy Lord Dufferin wrote a letter on 15 November 1887 AD (Letter No. 170/1887), which can be called the genesis of the Special Branch. Later, on 23 December 1887 AD, a "Central Special Branch" of Police was established in London by the Secretary of State for India Richard Cross under Order No. 31 of the Ministry of Home Affairs of the Government of British India. The Central Special Branch was receiving intelligence from the provincial police units. The British Government allocated Rs 46,800 rupee per year for the operation of the Special Branch. D McCracken, a British officer of the Punjab cadre, was appointed by Lord Dufferin as the Chief or General Superintendent of this Central Special Branch. On the other hand the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) was established in 1906 to investigate specific offenses in provincial governments, as well as to collect criminal intelligence. It was issued under the direction of the report of the Police Commission chaired by Sir Andrew Fraser in 1902; one of which was Intelligence Branch. In 1st September, 1905 the partition of Bengal was announced soon after which the level of various Anti-British revolutionary activities increased considerably. At the same time, the law and order situation was deteriorated due to the rebellious circumstances in protest of the partition of Bengal. The situation became so worse that the then Lieutenant Governor Sir Bamfield Fuller was forced to resign after one year (20 August 1906). As a result, the Indian Political Intelligence Office was established in London in 1909 and its main task was to monitor these revolutionaries. At the same time, in June 1909 AD, a proposal was sent from Bengal to the Government of India to open a Special Branch under the control of the Inspector General of Police to collect information to control revolutionary political movement. In 1920 the name of this organization was again changed to “Intelligence Bureau” (IB), which continued to operate in India and Pakistan till today. The main objective of setting up this Central Special Branch was to gather appropriate information about the political, economic and social conditions of India, to keep track of public attitude and to look after overall security abreast. A provincial Special Branch was also established under each provincial government. The function of the Central Special Branch was to assist the British colonial government in making decisions by analyzing the information sent by the provincial Special branches. In course of time, the Central Special Branch itself initiated political intelligence gathering activities on its own initiative instead of depending only on the provincial branches. Currently, the mother organization of Bangladesh Police Special Branch is the continuation of Central Special Branch. Initially the work of Central Special Branch was 1) Data collection 2) Data Analysis and 3) Dissemination. The reason for collecting, collating and analyzing information in this way and conveying it to the target was to politically protect the British Empire from new complexities arising in the subcontinent. As intense anti-British terrorist movement was going on in Bengal on one side, on the other side of the coin was the intense and daring action of Bengali intelligence officers to suppress them. The bravery and professionalism of the Bengali detectives may seem negative from the perspective of the revolutionaries, but from a dispassionate professional point of view, it appears to be very impressive The point to be noted here is that the intelligence work that was conducted in the city of Kolkata was controlled by the City Police Special Branch of the Central Special Branch and the intelligence work outside the city of Kolkata was conducted by the Intelligence Branch of the CID formed under the Provincial government. At that time the Special Branch personnel received higher and more attractive salary than those of any other branch of the police. The Special Officer of the Special Branch used to submit the summary of the bill to the Accountant General without the name and withdrew the money as Contingent Charges and secret money. Later, a number of 8725 constables and 150 head constables were appointed only for the Special Branch. This recruitment process continued till 31 December 1911 AD and a full form of Special Branch was established. "Special Branch Manual 1919" was prepared and District Special Branch was formed at the district level. Prior to the promulgation of the said manual, the work of the Special Branch was conducted through various circulars. In 1922, the Intelligence Branch was separated from the Criminal Investigation Department and renamed the Central Intelligence Bureau (CIB) to collect information on seditious activities by the British government in the context of the Swadeshi movement. British police spy were called "lizards" in sign language by the agitators and revolutionaries. At that time, these 'lizards' were spread everywhere in the streets, messes, schools, colleges, hostels, tea shops, etc. to keep an eye on those involved in the Swaraj movement. Even Legendary poet Rabindranath Tagore was "tainted number-03" in the book of "lizards" or Special Branch. Again, those involved in the Swaraj movement had their own spy force to monitor these so called lizards. After the end of World War II the British were forced to leave India in 1947. The Sub Continent was divided into two parts, India and Pakistan. Pakistan is again divided into two parts - West Pakistan and East Pakistan (Later Independent Bangladesh in 1971). After the partition of the sub continent, the then East Pakistan Intelligence Branch was established at Waizghat, Dhaka. In 1950, the Security Control Organization was established at Simpson Road. A sub office of Central Government Intelligence Bureau (CIB) was established in Dhaka. In 1962, Intelligence Branch was renamed Special Branch to avoid confusion with the abbreviation "IB" of Intelligence Branch and Intelligence Bureau. Special Branch commenced its journey in independent Bangladesh in 1971 headed by a Deputy Inspector General and six Special Superintendents. In the beginning of Pakistan, the then Special Branch targeted to collect political intelligence. The year’s long political movement (1947 to 1971) of the father of the Nation Bangabondhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman against the Pakistan establishment led towards the independence of Bangladesh. The Special Branch intelligence report regarding this long political activism was preserved and archived in the Special Branch. These secret reports were declassified with the consent of honorable Prime Minister, the daughter of Banglabondhu Shiekh Mujibur Rahman and 9 volumes of “Secret Documents” was published . The Secret Documents is considered to be a living history of the liberation war of Bangladesh. The Archive also contributed to the documentation of Agartala Conspiracy Case publication which has been edited by Honorable Prime Minister Shiekh Hasina herslf . On 25th March 1971 with the declaration of independence by the Father of the Nation Bangabondhu Sheik Mujibur Rahman, Bengali police officers of Special Branch had the honor to raise first resistance against the Pakistan occupation army in Rajarbagh Police Lines. In 1971, under the leadership of the father of the nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the independent state of Bangladesh was born through the great liberation war. The Special Branch of the Pakistan (Intelligence Bureau of Central Government Pakistan) Police was abolished and the Special Branch, Bangladesh Police was born. After independence, Special Branch made a great contribution in collecting timely information, maintaining law and order and ensuring security in the country. Special Branch officer ASI Siddiqur Rahman, who was on duty to protect the security of Bangabondhu's residence, fought till the end with a service revolver to fortify the attack on Bangabondhu and his family memebers in the deadly night of 15th August 1975. Subsequently, the Bangladesh Police Special Branch has been quietly showing utmost self-sacrifice, professionalism and dedication to duty in both daily and transitional times of the country. Their fearless actions in protecting the country's national security and social stability have made Bangladesh more secure.

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