21-05-2025
Traffic expert ‘One-Way Saleem' is Karnataka police chief
Bengaluru: The state govt Wednesday appointed senior IPS officer
MA Saleem
as the new director general and inspector general of police of the state. Having worked as the director general of police, CID, Saleem is the 43rd DG-IGP of the state.
His predecessor Alok Mohan's two-year tenure as the state police chief ended Wednesday.
Saleem, who penned the book 'Traffic Management in Metropolitan Cities,' won a doctorate for his work on traffic management. He twice held the post of additional commissioner of police-traffic (Aug 2011 to July 2013 and April 2015 to March 2016) in Bengaluru city. However, his stint as the special commissioner of police-traffic (Nov 2022-May 2023) saw a massive change in traffic management across the city.
Many junctions like Goraguntepalya, Hebbal, Silk Board and KR Puram, known for traffic congestion, saw smooth vehicular movements even during morning and evening peak hours.
Saleem himself would stand on the road at these junctions, controlling the traffic. According to sources, he is the only IPS officer in the city who would come to the road as early as 8am each day and monitor the traffic at various junctions. "I know the roads, traffic junctions, and lanes of the city, where the traffic congestion prevails, like the lines on my palm.
Also, I know the solutions to them. All required is to stand in these junctions and monitor the traffic flow," Saleem often said.
Seeing their senior IPS officer standing on the road to monitor the traffic, his subordinates would follow suit without choice. Saleem's tenure as the special commissioner of police-traffic is marked as a milestone in the history of Bengaluru traffic for the effective implementation of rules.
During his tenure with the traffic department, Saleem converted more than 140 roads to one-ways, which earned him the nickname '
One-Way Saleem
.'
Soon after taking over charge Wednesday evening, Saleem said measures will be taken to train rural police to handle cybercrimes. "Traffic in all cities and towns will be regulated. Also, we will control drug menace," he said.
