Pratap Dighavkar

Some Lesser Known Facts About Pratap Dighavkar

• Pratap Dighavkar was one of the toppers from his school in the senior secondary examinations, obtaining 86%.

• After completing his school education, his father told him to leave his studies and help his family members in farming. However, he wished to study further and took Rs. 350 from his mother and got himself enrolled in a distance education programme.

• At the age of 18, Pratap Dighavkar completed his graduation and passed both the Combined Defence Exam (CDS) and Police Service examinations.

• In 1987, he joined the Mumbai Police and served as the Assistant Commissioner of Police.

  

• Pratap Dighavkar continued his studies further and became an IPS officer in 2001.

• In a media conversation, he shared that once he asked his mother while watching a plane in the sky, ‘Whose planes are these?’ His mother told him that it belonged to the government. From then on, he decided to be a part of the government system.

• Pratap Dighavkar has served as superintendent of police in the Pune and Raigad districts of Maharashtra.

• He has also served as the deputy commissioner of police in Mumbai for zones 2, 4, and 9, and traffic police, and additional commissioner of police in South Mumbai.

• Pratap Dighavkar was posted in Nashik district after he got promoted to inspector general.

• He played a major role in the investigation of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks.

• Soon after his retirement, Pratap Dighavkar joined the Maharashtra Public Service Commission as its member.

• In 2023, he joined the Bharatiya Janata Party in the presence of Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and state unit chief of the party Chandrashekhar Bawankule.

  

• In 2024, he wished to contest the Lok Sabha elections from the Dhule constituency in Maharashtra. However, the party refused to give him a ticket and instead chose Dr Subhash Bhamre, a former Minister of State for Defence, as their candidate.

• Pratap Dighavkar likes travelling to distant places and horse riding in his free time.

• Once, in a media conversation, he recalled one of his achievements. He said that while serving as the Superintendent of Police in Raigad, he promised the home minister, R R Patil, to reduce conflicts in villages. He achieved 80% success, which was reportedly the highest in the state.

• He is a public speaker who is often invited by TEDx to deliver motivational speeches.