Police Diary: Look who is ‘sizing up’ Mumbai’s men in khaki

From selection of the fabric, to the colour and the insignias that will decorate the uniforms, the brothers take care of everything. The uniform ranges between Rs 2000 to Rs 6,000 depending on the fabric and specifications. “While the senior police officer especially IPS go for a darker shade of Khaki, the lower rung prefer the lighter shade. Terry cotton is the hit amongst all the ranks owing to the humid weather in Mumbai,” Chintal reveals.

Promising a swift delivery within two to three days, depending on the urgency sometimes the uniforms are even readied withing a few hours. “Recently the Commissioner of Pune, Rashmi Shukla wanted her uniform urgently and we got it delivered within four hours. This is usual amongst policemen who are posted outside Mumbai. Mostly officers who are not posted in Mumbai request the uniform delivery on the same day. We try to accommodate as much as we can,” Chintal adds.

Chintal reveals that his father was a regular tailor but owing to the proximity of the Nagpada police station he started getting a lot of orders from the policemen attached to the police station and soon they became a household name amongst policemen. “We are just a stone throw distance from the police station and therefore many cops approached us for their clothes. Through word of mouth, many policemen started getting their clothes stitched from our shop. Now we get orders from policemen across ranks and profiles,” he says.

Not just the real men, they have also tailored men uniform for reel cops. “In every movie where actor Sunil Shetty has played the role of a policeman, he has got his uniform stitched from us. Even actors like Ajay Devgn and Akshay Kumar have got their uniforms tailored made from us,” he adds.

But when asked if he ever dreams of becoming a cop, Chintal chuckles immediately, “It’s a thankless job and I am happy being a designer,” he remarks.