During British rule in India police was used as an instrument not only to maintain law and order but also to preserve and protect their rule against any kind of assault. This approach quite often resulted in placing the police in an adversarial role against the people, particularly those who led the struggle for independence. This put policemen in a piquant situation since while they owed fealty to the British who employed them, they also loved their motherland. After independence there was a role reversal for the police who had to make an adjustment from shedding the role as protectors of foreign rule in India to serving the people in a newly established democratic polity. The transition was not smooth and easy since from a position of being used to untrammelled exercise of authority, the police had to adjust to accept being held accountable to the people for all their actions and face stringent criticism for real or imagined wrongs committed by them.