Who is MA Saleem, the new Karnataka police chief?

Bengaluru: M Abdulla Saleem, who took charge as the new chief of the Karnataka state police on Wednesday, has served in 26 different roles in a career spanning 32 years.

Born on June 25, 1966, Saleem hails from Chikkabanavara, a once-sleepy village in northern Bengaluru that has rapidly grown into a bustling suburb in recent years.

A 1993-batch IPS officer, Saleem holds postgraduate degrees in commerce and police management. He is widely recognised for his contributions to solving Bengaluru's traffic issues, first as the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic, East), then as the Additional Commissioner of Police (Traffic and Security) and later as the Special Commissioner of Police (Traffic). He knows the city and its traffic like the back of his hand.

Driven by a keen interest in traffic management, Saleem earned a PhD degree in the field from Bangalore University.

In the early phase of his career, Saleem served as the superintendent of police in Udupi and Hassan districts, then as the Inspector General of Police (Eastern Range) and as the Mysuru city police commissioner.

In November 2022, then-chief minister Basavaraj Bommai appointed him the Special Commissioner of Police to address Bengaluru's acute traffic problem.

As Bengaluru's traffic police chief, Saleem implemented one-way systems on 122 roads, the Safe Routes to School project, the Automated Traffic Challan System, the Local Area Traffic Management Plans and citizen participation projects like 'Public Eye' for traffic rule enforcement.

He established helplines and support systems for women (Spandana), children (Makkala Sahayavani) and the elderly (Aasare and Abhaya) and the Garuda Police Patrol.

Saleem later headed the Anti-Corruption Bureau, besides serving as the Additional Director General of Police (Crime and Administration) in the Karnataka State Police.

He is currently the Director General of Police, Criminal Investigation Department (CID) Karnataka, Special Units and Economic Offences, Bengaluru.

Saleem has overseen several high-profile and sensational cases, including the IMA scam that defrauded over 74,000 people, the Hassan sexual harassment case involving multiple victims, the misappropriation of Rs 94 crore at the Karnataka Maharshi Valmiki Scheduled Tribes Development Corporation and the police sub-inspector recruitment scam.

Saleem won the President’s Police Medal for distinguished services in 2017, the President’s Police Medal for Meritorious Services in 2009, the National Award for e-Governance for exemplary usage of ICT by the government of India, and a commendation disk by the Bureau of Police Research and Development, Ministry of Home Affairs, in 2021.

He was also honoured with the IRTE Prince Michael International Road Safety Award for his contributions to road safety. He was also the leader of the Indian police officers' delegation that trained under the Anti-Terrorism Assistance Programme at Louisiana State Police Academy in the USA.

A passionate reader, Saleem often immerses himself in books. He is the author of a book on traffic management in metropolitan cities and a regular columnist for Deccan Herald.