Sri Lanka Corps of Military Police - History

History

With the establishment of the Ceylon Army in October 1948 a Provost Section was raised. The section then consisted of 1 Officer and 16 NCOs On 1 October 1951 the establishment was increased to that of a company and Capt E.R.P De Zilwa was appointed Officer Commanding. In 1959 the Company was elevated to the level of the unit and the Commanding Officer was promoted Lieutenant Colonel.

With the rapid expansion of the army in resent years the corps has also been gradually increased and has provost sections at every Amy detachment.

In 1979 the Military Police had the rare honour of performing the ceremonial guard duties, such as Guard Mounting at the President’s House and to meet this requirement, the President’s Ceremonial Guard Company was formed.

Specialized branches such as the Special Investigations Branch and the Traffic School were included to the establishment by the provost in order to counter various crimes and also misconduct and infringement of road rules on public highways by army personnel. The Special Investigations Branch has now expanded to a Special Investigation Unit, directly functioning under the Directorate of Provost Marshal.

The introduction of the Sri Lanka Army Women’s Corps gave necessity to maintain the discipline of the women soldiers, and the Provost Section of MP Women was established in 1983.