Praveen Sood (CBI Director)

Some Lesser Known Facts About Praveen Sood

• Praveen Sood is a 1986 batch IPS officer of the Karnataka cadre. He headed the Karnataka Police from 2020 to 2023 as its Director General & Inspector General of Police (DG & IGP). He came into the limelight on 14 May 2023 following his appointment as the Central Bureau of Investigation’s director.

• Praveen Sood was born into a lower-middle-class family.

  

• After completing his B.Tech, Praveen Sood applied for and appeared in the pan-India civil services examination organised by the UPSC; he cleared the CSE in 1986.

• Thereafter, he reported at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy in Hyderabad, where he completed his police training in 1989.

  

• His first posting was in Mysuru, where he held the appointment of the Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP).

• Praveen Sood worked closely with the cops from the US and the European Union (EU) on numerous cases while serving as a police advisor to the Mauritius government from 1999 to 2002.

• Praveen is accredited with making efficient plans for tackling the poor management of traffic in Mysuru while serving as the commissioner of police in Mysuru. He also played a vital role in conducting anti-terrorist operations in Mysuru that led to the arrest of many Pakistani terrorists.

• He played an important role in the foundation of the Traffic Management Centre in Bengaluru while serving as the additional commissioner of police (traffic).

  

• As Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) of the Computer Wing, he was eminent in establishing the Crime & Criminal Tracking Network System (CCTNS). Under his leadership, the Karnataka state administration established an SMS gateway aimed at the collection of fees as well as service requests from the public. He also played a pivotal role in helping the state government provide its services to the public under the Karnataka Guarantee of Services to Citizens Act (2011).

• The policies that he made as the managing director of the Karnataka State Police Housing Corporation helped the corporation increase its profit from Rs 160 crores to Rs 282 crores.

• While serving as the Commissioner of Police, Bangalore City, Praveen made numerous attempts to improve public safety, especially for women. Under his leadership, the Bengaluru police released an Emergency Response System (ERS) named Namma 100 (My 100), Suraksha, a safety app for women managed by women police officers, and Pink Hoyasala, an initiative for helping the women of Bengaluru in distress. He, however, was removed from the commissionership within seven months of his appointment due to conflicts with the Congress-led state government.

  

• Praveen Sood played a pivotal role in the formation of the Centre for Cyber-crime Investigation, Training & Research as the DGP of CID, Economic Offences & Special Units.

• Later, he took over the command of the Karnataka Police by relieving Neelmani Raju as the Director General and Inspector General of Police (DG & IGP).

  

• On 14 May 2023, the Government of India issued a gazette notification in which it announced Praveen Sood as the replacement of Subodh Kumar Jaiswal as the new director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). His tenure as the director of the CBI began on 25 May 2023.

• The Karnataka state Congress president D. K. Shivakumar called Praveen a useless policeman after Praveen’s appointment as the CBI’s director. He also accused Praveen of deliberately filing FIRs against Congress workers during the 2023 Karnataka State Assembly elections. He further accused him of protecting the BJP workers by shielding them. While giving an interview, D. K. Shivakumar talked about it and said,
  

  This DGP is a ‘Nalayak’. Let our government come to power. We will take action against him. Congress had also written to ECI to remove him. I thought he (Praveen Sood) was a respected man. Immediately, a case should be registered against him and he should be arrested. He has finished three years in service. How many days do you want to keep and worship him? He has been filing cases only against Congress. He has registered more than 25 cases against us and not a single case against BJP leaders.”

• Praveen Sood is an avid traveller, and he has visited numerous countries.

• Praveen Sood has been invited to share his experiences as a cop on several talk shows including TEDx.

  

• Praveen likes to play golf.