There is something striking about Dr Sagar Preet Hooda’s return to Chandigarh. The city he once entered as a young IPS officer at the beginning of his career is now the city whose police force he commands.
Nearly three decades separate those two moments.
In between lies a career that has moved across field policing, law and order, intelligence, administration and assignments with the Government of India — eventually bringing the 1997-batch AGMUT officer back to Chandigarh as its Director General of Police.
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FROM HARYANA TO THE IPS
Born on August 30, 1969, with Haryana as his home state, Sagar Preet Hooda joined the Indian Police Service on August 23, 1997. His early academic years were spent in sociology, culminating in a PhD. That academic foundation would precede a career in which understanding institutions, communities and public administration became part of a much wider professional journey.
His first years in the IPS took him into the AGMUT cadre’s diverse policing landscape, including Chandigarh and Arunachal Pradesh. Chandigarh came early. Years later, it would come back at the other end of his career.
THROUGH THE TOUGHER TERRAIN
Arunachal Pradesh became another important chapter in Hooda’s career.
The northeastern state offered a very different policing environment from Chandigarh. His responsibilities there included senior police and administrative assignments, including the position of Inspector General of Police.
It was one among several postings that expanded his experience beyond conventional urban policing.
The AGMUT cadre would eventually take him back to Delhi, where the scale and complexity of the capital demanded another kind of policing experience.
FROM THE FIELD TO THE GOVERNMENT
Hooda’s career did not remain confined to police establishments. He served in the Ministry of Home Affairs, taking on responsibilities within the central government machinery.
He also served with the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, adding another dimension to a career that had already crossed policing and administration.
These assignments placed him on the other side of government functioning — where policy, administration and coordination become as important as field command. It was a pattern that would continue throughout his career: moving between the operational world of policing and the larger machinery of governance.
RISING THROUGH DELHI POLICE
Delhi brought Hooda into increasingly senior police responsibilities. He served as Joint Commissioner of Police and subsequently took charge as Special Commissioner of Police, Law & Order.
Later, he moved into the intelligence domain, serving as Special Commissioner of Police, Intelligence, with additional responsibilities associated with the Perception Management and Media Cell.
The progression reflected the changing demands of his career. The young officer who had started with field policing was now handling responsibilities that extended across law and order, intelligence and strategic police administration.
A CAREER MARKED BY RECOGNITION
Hooda’s service has also brought formal recognition. He received the Police (Special Duty) Medal in 2002 and the Police Medal for Meritorious Service in 2013.
In 2025 came the highest police honour of his career so far — the President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service. By then, almost three decades had passed since he first entered the IPS.
THE HOMECOMING
On July 23, 2025, Dr Sagar Preet Hooda took charge as the DGP of Chandigarh. The appointment completed a remarkable professional circle. The Chandigarh of his early career had been a place where he was learning the profession.
The Chandigarh of 2025 was different. Now, he was responsible for leading the entire police force of the Union Territory. His priorities have included strengthening technology and cyber capabilities, improving community policing and ensuring a citizen-focused approach to policing.
It is an interesting fit for an officer whose career has repeatedly crossed the boundaries between policing and administration.
28 YEARS, ONE JOURNEY
There are careers that follow a straight line. Hooda’s has not.
It has moved through different terrains and responsibilities — from Chandigarh and Arunachal Pradesh to Delhi, from policing to the central government, from law and order to intelligence, and from field responsibilities to senior leadership.
Yet the journey has now returned to where one of its earliest chapters began. In 1997, he entered the IPS. In 2025, he entered the Chandigarh Police headquarters as its chief.
The designation changed. The city remained. And after 28 years in the service, Dr Sagar Preet Hooda’s Chandigarh posting has given his long IPS journey its most striking full-circle moment yet.
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