BENGALURU: A gentleman officer and one with impeccable service record, IPS officer of 1991 batch and Director General of Police (DGP), Internal Security Division (ISD) CH Pratap Reddy will hang up his boots on superannuation on April 30.
He, along with his senior Kamal Pant, DGP, Home Guards, Civil Defence, Director General, Fire & Emergency Services & State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), of the 1990 batch, was scheduled to retire in June this year but Reddy opted for voluntary retirement scheme (VRS) two months ahead due to personal reasons.
In his place, senior IPS officer of 1993 batch, ADGP Malini Krishnamurthy, who is currently Director General, Prisons & Correctional Services, will be promoted as DGP.
Reddy had started his career as assistant superintendent of police (ASP), Arsikere, in Hassan district in 1993. In 2015, as additional commissioner, law & order, Bengaluru city, he had led the first successful extradition of a Red Corner Notice (RCN) subject, in which he and Annamalai, former IPS officer and incumbent Tamil Nadu BJP president, had brought back notorious underworld don Bananje Raja alias Rajendra Kumar. Raja was arrested in Casablanca in February 2015 in the murder case of BJP leader RN Nayak in Ankola in 2013. He was extradited to India in August that year.
As SP, Vijayapura and Kalaburagi (then Bijapur and Gulbarga) between 1997 and 2000, the police of the districts, under Reddy’s leadership and operational planning, had eliminated the Bhima river gangsters following the arrest of Keshappa Tavarkhed, taken action against the Chadchan brothers and had an exchange of fire with gang leader Chandappa Harijan in Maharashtra, which led to his killing. Reddy, as then ADGP, Criminal Investigation Department (CID), had led the investigation into the infamous Bhaskar Shetty murder case in 2016, which led to the conviction of all the accused.
Reddy has also served with the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and was later deputed to Nasscom as director from 2009-11, during which he had set up new cyber laboratories for various state police agencies (Chennai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, Madhuban and Pune) including CID, Karnataka. He was posted as commissioner, Bengaluru City Police (BCP) in May 2022. During his tenure, Reddy worked on the re-organisation and strengthening of BCP, and obtained the sanction of 2,454 new posts at one go from the government. Known for working behind the stage without any fanfare, Reddy has maintained a low profile and stayed away from the media glare throughout his career. A day before his superannuation, he looked at his over 32 years of service, and said it has been a “phenomenal journey”and one of “immense satisfaction”.