CHANDIGARH, July 15 — Senior Indian Police Service officer Dr Sagar Preet Hooda has been appointed as the new Director General of Police (DGP) of Chandigarh, making him the fourth officer to hold the top post in under three months. The announcement came through an official order issued by the Ministry of Home Affairs on Tuesday afternoon.
A 1997-batch officer of the Arunachal Pradesh-Goa-Mizoram and Union Territory (AGMUT) cadre, Dr Hooda was serving as the Special Commissioner of Police (Intelligence) in Delhi with additional responsibilities for perception management, women and child safety units, and the North-Eastern division of Delhi Police.
“With the approval of the competent authority, Dr Sagar Preet Hooda, IPS (AGMUT:1997), is hereby transferred from Delhi to Chandigarh and posted as DGP, Chandigarh, with immediate effect and until further orders,” read the order issued by Anish Muraleedharan, Director (Services), Union Home Ministry.
Dr Hooda, a native of Haryana, began his policing career in Chandigarh as Assistant Superintendent of Police in 1997. An alumnus of Panjab University (PU), he holds postgraduate and doctoral degrees in sociology. He later advanced his academic credentials with a Master’s in Public Policy Analysis from Harvard University as an Edward S. Mason fellow (2014–15), a Public Finance certificate from Duke University in 2012, and coursework in globalisation and leadership at the London School of Economics in 2006.
Recognised as a Chevening scholar and recipient of the Webber-Seavey Award, Dr Hooda is lauded for his expertise in governance, conflict resolution, policy analysis, and international relations.
In recent years, he held critical law and order positions in the Delhi Police, including stints as Special Commissioner and Joint Commissioner. He is set to take over from IGP Pushpendra Kumar, who had been officiating as DGP since June 20 after the transfer of Surendra Singh Yadav to the Border Security Force (BSF).
The appointment of Dr Hooda marks the fourth leadership change in the Chandigarh Police since April. Following Yadav’s transfer, IGP Rajkumar Singh briefly took charge, succeeded by Kumar. The revolving door of top brass underscores administrative flux in the Union Territory’s law enforcement leadership.
Dr Hooda, who turns 56 next month, is expected to bring stability to the post and address key policing challenges in the city with his extensive administrative and field experience.
