New Delhi: Karnataka Director General of Police Praveen Sood was on Sunday named as the next Director of Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The Department of Personnel & Training, Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, issued a notification on Sunday. Sood will take over after the tenure of incumbent CBI Director Subodh Kumar Jaiswal, an IPS officer of Maharashtra 1985 batch gets over later this month.

Karnataka DGP Praveen Sood (IPS), was the topmost officer in our list of Top 22 Bureaucrats Who Made A Difference in 2022, a prestigious list issued by us on January 23, 2023.

The Selection Committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and comprising Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and Leader of Opposition had met on Saturday and deliberated on three names for the post, the other two being Sudhir Kumar Saxena, DGP, Madhya Pradesh; and Taj Hassan, Director General, Fire Service, Civil Defence and Home Guards. 

Bureaucrats India had the opportunity of having an interview with Sood on June 25, 2022: The same can be viewed here: https://youtube.com/@BureaucratsIndia

Known for his extraordinary policing acumen and many innovations including deployment of technology for enhancing efficiency, IITian Sood had the backing of the Prime Minister and CJI. Sood is also the senior most among the three shortlisted candidates.

A 1986-batch IPS officer Sood was appointed Karnataka DGP in January 2020, while Saxena of the 1987-batch in Indian Police Service took over as Madhya Pradesh DGP in March 2022. Hassan, a 1987-batch IPS officer of AGMUT cadre took over as DG, Fire Service, Civil Defence and Home Guards in July 2021.

The two-year fixed tenure of the present incumbent Subodh Kumar Jaiswal, a 1985-batch IPS officer from Maharashtra cadre is coming to an end on May 25 this year.

An IITian, Sood has had an illustrious career during which he is credited with numerous innovations. As Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru city, Sood is brain behind launch of “Namma 100” an “Emergency Response System” for the citizens in distress. With 100 lines managed by multilingual “Communication Officers” 24 X 7, and support of 276 Emergency Response Vehicles (Hoyasala), spread all over Bengaluru City; Sood promised every call to be picked up in 15 seconds and every scene of distress to be visited by “Hoyasala” within 15 minutes.  “Namma-100” or “My-100” was receiving, on an average, 6000 calls a day with average intervention time of 5 second and average response time of 17 minutes within 3 months of its launch.

Born in 1964, Sood graduated from IIT Delhi, joined IPS in 1986 and started his career as Asstt. Superintendent of Police, Mysore in 1989. He served as Superintendent of Police, Bellary and Raichur before getting posted to Bangalore city as Deputy Commissioner of Police, Law and Order.

In 1999, he proceeded to foreign deputation as Police Advisor to the Government of Mauritius for 3 years. Sood got exposure to European and American Police during his stint in Mauritius. In 2003, Sood took a sabbatical for pursuing Post Graduation in Public Policy and Management from Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore and Maxwell School of Governance, Syracuse University, New York.

Sood was posted as Commissioner of Police of Mysore city during 2004 to 2007.  He focused on transforming the haphazard and unregulated traffic situation in Mysore city through awareness campaigns, mechanical and engineering improvements and better enforcement.  He was also instrumental in the arrest of Pakistan origin terrorists during his stint in Mysore.

Sood took over as Additional Commissioner of Police of Traffic, Bangalore in February 2008 and continued till September 2011. A strong proponent of technology driven traffic management, Sood was instrumental in establishing the most advanced Traffic Management Centre at Bangalore city.

He has been decorated with Chief Minister’s Gold Medal for excellence in service in 1996, Police Medal for Meritorious Service in 2002 & President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service in 2011.  Besides he is recipient of Prince Michael International Road safety Award in the year 2006 for his contribution towards road safety & traffic management and national E-Governance Gold Award for “Most innovative use of technology for Traffic Management” in the year 2011.

As Additional Director General of Police Computer Wing, Sood’s immediate challenge was to implement CCTNS i.e. Crime & Criminal Tracking Network System all over Karnataka by networking all Police Stations up to Delhi and ensuring data entry and retrieval of all information in police stations and higher police officers online in real-time. The IPS officer was also instrumental in introducing mobile governance through SMS gateways for collection of fees as well as service requests from the public. He was also nodal officer for delivery of services to citizens under Karnataka Guarantee of Services to Citizens Act.

As Commissioner of Traffic and Road Safety Sood was involved in replicating the Bangalore model of technology driven traffic management to the entire state.

Sood was instrumental in introducing large scale reform in the internal procedures of department as well as Promotions and Welfare at cutting edge level i.e. Constabulary during his stint as Additional Director General of Police, Karnataka State Reserve Police and Additional Director General of Police, Administration

Sood was also instrumental in launching “Suraksha” App and “Pink Hoyasala” managed by all-women cops especially for the women and children in distress.

As Director General of Police, CID, Economic offences & Special Units, he has taken major initiative for better investigation and awareness for prevention of cyber crimes, which is going to be the biggest challenge in the near future. CID in collaboration with Infosys Foundation has taken a big step by establishing a state-of-art “Centre for Cyber-crime Investigation, Training & Research” for creating capacity for investigation and trials of cyber crimes among police officers, prosecutors and judiciary.