New Delhi: One who brought in “technological revolution in policing” and key reforms in cyber crime Investigation — this is how officers describe Karnataka director general of police (DGP) Praveen Sood, who was appointed as the next director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for a period of two years Sunday.
Sood will take charge once Subodh Kumar Jaiswal completes his tenure on 25 May.
A graduate from IIT Delhi, Sood is a 1986 batch officer who started his career as assistant superintendent of police, Mysore, in 1989 and has served at key positions across the state including Bellary, Raichur, and erstwhile Bangalore. He also served as the commissioner of police of Mysore city and Bengaluru.
Speaking to ThePrint, Sood said, “I have worked in Karnataka for 37 years. It is time to move now. It is a big responsibility.”
Although he was to retire in May 2024, he would be in office till 2025 since the CBI director’s post has a fixed tenure of two years.
Sood’s appointment comes at a time when Congress has won the assembly elections in Karnataka defeating the BJP.
In March this year, state Congress leader D.K. Shivakumar called Sood ‘nalayak’ and also vowed to take action against him once his party came to power. Shivakumar had then alleged Sood’s affiliation with the BJP and accused him of registering over 25 cases against Congress leaders alone. The Congress had also written to the Election Commission to remove him.
According to his biodata on his website, in 1999, he went on foreign deputation as police adviser to the Government of Mauritius for three years. In 2003, he 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.
“During his stint in Mysore, he focused on transforming the unregulated traffic situation in the city through awareness campaigns, mechanical and engineering improvements. He is tech-savvy and brought in the concept of using CCTV cameras to enforce fines,” an officer who has worked with Sood said to ThePrint.
“He is an officer who believes in the use of technology for policing and brought in many such reforms during his tenure in several of his postings including focusing on forensic driven investigations,” the officer said.
According to the officer, Sood was instrumental in introducing mobile governance through SMS gateways for collection of fees as well as service requests from the public.
As additional director general of police computer wing, he was among the first ones to implement CCTNS (Crime & Criminal Tracking Network System) all over Karnataka by linking 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 officer said.
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‘Tech driven traffic management’
According to his biodata, Sood is a strong supporter of technology driven traffic management and was instrumental in establishing the most advanced Traffic Management Centre at Bengaluru city.
He was also awarded 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 a recipient of Prince Michael International Road safety Award in 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 his bio.
As the Commissioner of Traffic and Road Safety, Sood was involved in replicating the Bangalore model of technology driven traffic management to the entire state.
As the Commissioner of Police, Bengaluru city, Sood also launched Namma 100, an Emergency Response System for the citizens in distress, with 100 lines managed by multilingual communication officers 24*7, and support of 276 emergency response vehicles, spread all over the city.
“He promised every call to be picked up in 15 seconds and every scene of distress to be visited by the police within 15 minutes,” the officer cited above said.
He was also instrumental in launching Suraksha app and Pink Hoyasala managed by all-women cops especially for the women and children in distress, says his bio.
(With inputs from Sharan Poovanna)
(Edited by Smriti Sinha)