KHAMMAM: A festive air has gripped Komatlagudem village of Chintakani mandal in Khammam district after Shaik Saleema, who was a non-cadre Superintendents of Police (SP), was appointed to the Indian Police Service (IPS) by the Central government. She is currently posted as a DCP in the Rachakonda commissionerate.
Apart from being Telangana's first Muslim woman IPS officer, Saleema is also the first woman from erstwhile Khammam district to have been appointed to the IPS.
Hailing from a middle-class family, Saleema's father Lal Bahadur also served in the Police Department and retired as Sub-Inspector (SI) a few years ago. Her mother Yakubbi was a stay-at-home parent. The couple has three other children - Zareena, Munni and Khasim - and all of them are in good positions now.
After completing her schooling and graduation in Khammam, Saleema joined the Kakatiya University in Warangal for pursuing a postgraduate degree in bio-technology. After cracking the group exams, she was selected as a DSP in 2007 and got her first posting at Kagaznagar in erstwhile Adilabad district.
Later, she worked as the vice-principal of Amberpet Police Training Centre in Hyderabad. She also served as Addl DCP (Admin) in Cyberabad police commissionerate. Saleema's sister Zareena is currently awaiting her interview after clearing the Andhra Pradesh Group-1 exam.
While her another sister Munni currently works as a vehicle inspector in Khairatabad, Hyderabad, Saleema's brother Khasim is a doctor at Care Hospital in Hyderabad. The cop's husband works as a software engineer.
When The New Indian Express spoke to a couple of villagers, they all expressed their happiness over Saleema's promotion. Speaking to The New Indian Express, Saleema shared her joy and said that she has always strived to be honest in her job throughout her career.
The officer says: "More and more women should join the force. For this, one has to step out of their comfort zone and come forward. Only then, you would be able to achieve the name and fame that you dream of. I also did the same. Thanks to my family members for supporting me throughout the journey."
Mentioning that getting a government job had always been her dream, Saleema said after receiving one, she never looked back. "My family supported me the same way they would if I received any other job. They never let me face any difficulties alone. After I got married, my husband Baji Ahmed, who works as project manager, became my spot driver," chuckles Saleema.
Ahmed looks after both their kids, studying in Classes IX and II, without any complaints. She says her younger child still wonders as to why her picture appears in newspapers once a while. When asked if there was any incident that gave her complete satisfaction, the cop shared one such instance with The New Indian Express.
"We were given complete freedom by CP Mahesh Bhagwat to put an end to two major threats the city was facing in 2018 -- sex determination in Uppal and sex trafficking in Yadagirigutta. One of those nights, I received a call with a tipoff and we had to conduct, not a raid but, a decoy operation. I saw many grave things that night. But, after successfully detecting the case and sending the victims to shelter homes, I felt complete satisfaction. Memories of that day still give me immense pleasure," she said.