India: Who is Praveen Sood? IPS officer, now chief of CBI
Story highlights
Praveen Sood becomes new CBI chief: Sood graduated from IIT Delhi and began his career as an assistant superintendent of police (Mysore) in 1989. He then served as the SP of Bellary and Raichur before being transferred to Bengaluru as the deputy commissioner of police (law and order).
The high-powered selection committee led by prime minister Narendra Modi nominated IPS officer Praveen Sood as the director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for a two-year term on Sunday. Sood, a 1986-batch Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, was appointed Karnataka DGP in January 2020, succeeding Ashit Mohan Prasad, a 1985-batch IPS officer.
Nila Mohanan, director of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances, and Pensions (Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), stated in an order: “Approval of the Competent Authority, is hereby conveyed to the appointment of Praveen Sood, IPS-86 batch, as Director, CBI for a period of two years from the date of assumption of charge of the office vice Subhodh Kumar Jaiswal, consequent upon completion of his tenure.”
Sood graduated from IIT Delhi and began his career as an assistant superintendent of police (Mysore) in 1989. He then served as the SP of Bellary and Raichur before being transferred to Bengaluru as the deputy commissioner of police (law and order). In 1999, he accepted a three-year overseas deputation as a police advisor to the Government of Mauritius, where he worked closely with European and American police, as reported by The Indian Express.
Sood has a blog and said that in 2003, he took a break to pursue post graduation in public policy and management from the Indian Institute of Management in Bangalore and the Maxwell School of Governance at Syracuse University in New York.
ALSO READ | In India's biggest drug bust, crystal meth worth $1.45bn seized from Kerala coast, Pakistani held
“He was posted as Commissioner of Police of Mysore city from 2004 to 2007. He was also instrumental in the arrest of Pakistan-origin terrorists during his stint in Mysore. He has been decorated with Chief Minister’s Gold Medal for excellence in service in 1996, Police Medal for Meritorious Service in 2002 and 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,” according to Sood’s blog.
He also served as the Home Department's senior secretary, the Karnataka State Reserve Police's additional director general, and the Administration's additional director general of police.
ALSO WATCH | 6th Indian Ocean Conference: Bhutan's Foreign Minister thanks Indian govt for support during Covid
As Bengaluru's commissioner of police, he established the 'Namma 100' - a 'Emergency Response System' for residents in trouble. It provides 100 lines managed by multilingual "Communication Officers" 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with the help of 276 Emergency Response Vehicles (Hoysala) scattered across Bengaluru City. He was also responsible in the establishment of the 'Suraksha' App and the 'Pink Hoyasala' run by female officers, which were designed specifically for women and children in distress.
WATCH WION LIVE HERE:
