Karnataka's DGP Praveen Sood To Lead CBI As New Director: Here's A Brief Profile Of His Career And Accomplishments

Praveen Sood, the Karnataka DGP, has been chosen as the new director of the CBI by a high-level committee consisting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Opposition Leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury.

The announcement was made on Sunday.

Sood is set to replace Subodh Kumar Jaiswal as CBI director, with a two-year tenure beginning on 25 May as Jaiswal's term ends.

Sood, a 1986 -batch IPS officer from Himachal Pradesh is an alumnus of IIT-Delhi, IIM-Bangalore, and Syracuse University, New York.

In 1989, he received his first IPS posting in Mysore. When he became Commissioner of Police between 2004 and 2007, he returned to the city.

During this time, he and his team conducted a sting operation that resulted in the capture of Fahad, aka Mohammed Koya, and Mohammed Ali Hussain, aka Jahangir, from the Al Badr group.

On the night of 26 October 2006, the terrorists were arrested after an exchange of gunfire. They were both convicted of waging war against the nation under the provisions of the Explosive Substances Act and the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

He served as additional commissioner of police (Traffic) for Bengaluru from 2008 to 2011. In 2013, he became the managing director of Karnataka State Police Housing Corporation and boosted the company's turnover from Rs 160 crore to Rs 282 crore in nine months.

Sood set up 'Namma 100', an emergency response system with the help of 276 vehicles in Bengaluru. Additionally, he spearheaded the creation of 'Suraksha' app and 'Pink Hoysala', both designed to aid women and children in distress.

Along with his administrative duties in Karnataka, Sood has made significant contributions to public safety in the region.

He has been recognised with various prestigious awards throughout his professional career. In 1996, he was presented with the Chief Minister’s Gold Medal for impressive service. He received the Police Medal for Meritorious Service in 2002, and the President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service in 2011.

In addition, he was granted the Prince Michael International Road Safety Award in 2006 for his commendable contributions to road safety and traffic management. Finally, he was awarded the national E-Governance Gold Award in 2011 for the most innovative use of technology in traffic management.

A few months ago, as the Director General of Police (DGP) in Karnataka, he faced scrutiny from the media after the Karnataka Congress leader DK Shivakumar accused him of being biased towards the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Shivakumar went on to call the DGP 'Nalayak' and promised to take strict action against him once they come into power.

“He (DGP) has been in service for the last three years and how many more days will he continue to be a BJP worker? He has registered around 25 cases against Congress leaders and not even a single case against BJP leaders in the state,” Shivakumar said, reports The Hindustan Times.