D. Roopa

Some Lesser Known Facts About D. Roopa

• D. Roopa is an Indian Police Service officer who held various posts in Karnataka including Additional Commandant General, Commissioner of Traffic and Road Safety, and Deputy Inspector General of Prisons. In 2021, she was appointed as the Managing Director of Karnataka State Handicrafts Development Corporation. Apart from being an IPS officer, Roopa is a trained Bharatanatyam dancer and classical singer.

• Roopa dreamed of pursuing a career in civil service when she was in ninth grade. In an interview, Roopa recalled the time when one of her school teachers asked students to discuss their future profession with their parents and share it the other day in school. Roopa’s mother, Hemavathi, asked her to be a doctor, while her father, J. S. Diwakar, said that he wanted her to become an IAS or an IPS officer. The next day, Roopa went to school, where her teacher made everyone clap for her for sharing what her father said following which she realised that being an IAS or IPS officer is something special. Roopa, as a student of class 9, joined the National Cadet Corps (NCC).

• When Roopa was in ninth grade, she was selected for the NCC Republic Day Camp, where she represented Karnataka on 26 January in Delhi, where many honourable personalities were present including the first woman in India to join the officer ranks of the Indian Police Service, Kiran Bedi. While talking about this in an interview, Roopa revealed that she was inspired by Kiran Bedi’s khaki uniform and her speech following which she decided to give her best throughout to become an IPS officer. Roopa was selected as the Best NCC Cadet at the Republic Day Parade.

  

• After entering college, Roopa continued to be part of NCC, and she cleared the A, B, and C certificates of NCC. In her college years, she developed an interest in fashion and went on to showcase her talent in numerous fashion shows and runway walks. As a student at A.V.K. College in the early 90s, Roopa was crowned ‘Miss Davanagere’.

• After completing a Master of Science in Psychology, D. Roopa started preparing for the Civil Services.

• In 2000, she cleared the UPSC Examination and secured 43rd rank.

• She was allotted the Indian Police Service (IPS) and underwent training at the National Police Academy in Hyderabad. She was ranked 5th in her batch and was allotted to the Karnataka Cadre.

• D. Roopa is a sharpshooter and has won many awards in Shooting while undergoing training at the National Police Academy.

• On 26 January 2016, she was conferred with President’s Police Medal for Meritorious Service.

  

• She is well-versed in Classical Hindustani Music and has sung a Kannada-language song for the album ‘Bayalaatada Bheemanna’ (2019). Roopa is also a trained Bharatnatyam dancer.

• Roopa arrested Uma Bharti (the then Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh) in 2004 in Hubballi (also known as Hubli), Karnataka after the court order in a 10-year-old rioting case.

• During her tenure as DCP City Armed Reserve, D. Roopa withdrew around 8 SUV cars (belonging to the Police Department), which were being used in the cavalcade of former Karnataka Chief Minister B. S. Yeddyurappa; she withdrew about 216 gunmen kept by around 81 politicians.

• In July 2017, being the Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Prisons, she blew the whistle on the VVIP treatment given to All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) general secretary Sasikala in Bengaluru prison.

• In her report, Roopa mentioned how Satyanarayana Rao, the Director General of Prisons (DGP) of Karnataka, was one of the officers on Sasikala’s payroll who helped her avail special treatment like getting a separate kitchen and a corridor consisting of five cells for personal use and holding flexible hours of meeting. She also revealed how Sasikala allegedly paid Rs 2 crore to jail officials for a ‘comfortable stay.’

• On 17 July 2017, Karnataka State Government transferred her out of the Prisons Department to the post of DIG, Commissioner for Traffic and Road Safety, Bengaluru. The government issued notices to Roopa for violating the service rules and going public over allegations against other senior officials.

• In 2018, she was posted as Inspector General of Police and Director of Karnataka State Fire and Emergency Services.

• Roopa was appointed as the Managing Director of the Karnataka State Housing Corporation in 2019.

• On 30 December 2020, when she was transferred while serving as Karnataka home secretary, she took to Twitter to share her transfer history in her career; she had been transferred over 40 times in 20 years. In her tweet, she mentioned,
  

  I’ve been transferred more than double the times than the number of years of my career.”

• She was once selected to promote the ties between India and Israel at the ‘Discover Israel delegation’ by Israel Foreign Ministry.

• On 1 January 2021, she was appointed as the Managing Director of the Karnataka State Handicrafts Development Corporation, and in the same year, she took the charge as the Additional Director General (ADG) of Police and was appointed as the Director of the Internal Security Division of Karnataka.

• Roopa is fond of travelling and exploring places.

• She has delivered many inspiring speeches at various TEDx conferences.

  

• During an interview, D. Roopa shared that she faced some challenges in her marriage due to cultural differences with her husband Munish Moudgil, who hails from Jalandhar, Punjab, while Roopa is from Karnataka. Roopa recounted an incident when Munish expressed his desire to see her observe Karva Chauth, a Hindu festival where married women fast from sunrise to moonrise for the well-being of their husbands. Roopa, however, explained to him that she was not convinced by this tradition and preferred to follow the cultural practices of Karnataka. ^[3]The Times of India