NEW DELHI: The Ministry of Home Affairs has officially appointed senior Indian Police Service officer Sagar Preet Hooda, of the 1997 batch and AGMU cadre, as the new Director General of Police (DGP) of Chandigarh.
Hooda brings with him over 27 years of distinguished service across a range of critical assignments in policing, intelligence, and public policy.
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Hooda currently serves as Special Commissioner of Police (Intelligence and PM&MC) in the Delhi Police, where he has been instrumental in overseeing counter-intelligence operations, high-level security arrangements, and coordination for sensitive deployments.
Prior to this, he served in several key positions within the Delhi Police, including Special CP for Law & Order (Zone-II), Joint CP of the elite Special Cell, and Joint CP of the Eastern and Northern Ranges, besides heading operations.
In a career spanning multiple geographies and domains, Hooda has also served as Inspector General (Law & Order) in Arunachal Pradesh, Commissioner to the Governor of Arunachal Pradesh, and Director in the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports.
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His early field postings include serving as Superintendent of Police (SP) in Arunachal Pradesh and Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) in Chandigarh—making a return to the city he once helped police in the early years of his service.
An officer of considerable academic depth, Hooda holds a Ph.D. in Sociology and a Master’s in Sociology from Panjab University, Chandigarh, where he was a university topper. He further expanded his academic portfolio by completing a Master in Public Administration from Harvard University under the prestigious Edward S. Mason Fellowship (2014-15).
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He has also completed an advanced management course at the London School of Economics and earned an M.Sc. in Leadership and Disaster Mitigation.
Hooda’s career is notable not just for his postings but for the transformative initiatives he has led. He launched the “Parivartan” program for women’s safety and empowerment during his earlier Delhi Police tenure, which was lauded by UN Women and UNDP as a global good practice in community policing.
The program also earned international recognition from the International Association of Chiefs of Police (IACP) and nominations for awards at Harvard University.
His numerous accolades include the President’s Medal for Meritorious Police Service (2013), the Chevening Gurukul Senior Scholarship by LSE, and being named one of Channel News Asia’s “Asians of the Year” in 2008.
Hooda has represented Indian policing at global platforms with study visits to institutions like the EU Parliament in Brussels, ILO and WHO in Geneva, Oxfam, Amnesty International, and others.
The appointment is being viewed as a significant administrative development for Chandigarh, which sits at the junction of Punjab and Haryana and often faces unique law-and-order challenges.
Officials believe that Hooda’s diverse administrative and field experience, coupled with his prior tenure in the city as ASP, gives him a nuanced understanding of the region’s socio-political fabric.
With rising urban complexities, increasing demands for tech-enabled policing, and the need for closer community engagement, Hooda is expected to focus on intelligence-led policing, revamping traffic and surveillance systems, and strengthening beat-level police operations.
His arrival also signals the possibility of further institutional reforms and performance-oriented policing strategies within the UT Police.
Sagar Preet Hooda is expected to take charge in the coming days, with formal notifications from the Union Government already in place. His leadership is being closely watched, not just in Chandigarh, but also across northern India, as policing faces new-age challenges in both physical and cyber domains.
