Mangaluru (TOI) : M Chandra Sekhar, an aerospace engineer from IIT, Kharagpur, who always wanted to become a policeman, is the city's sixth police chief. A native of Nellore district in Andhra Pradesh, Sekhar, who was joint commissioner of police (crime) of Bengaluru City Police prior to his current posting, is a 1998 batch IPS officer, originally allotted to Himachal Pradesh cadre and absorbed in to the Karnataka cadre in 2013. He succeeds S Murugan.
Having served as ASP, Shimla, and aide-de-camp to the Governor of HP, Sekhar also served as superintendent of police in Bilaspur and Mandi district in that state before coming on deputation to Karnataka in 2009. He served as SP (Internal Security Division) for three months, before serving as DCP (East division), Bengaluru City Police from 2009 to 2012. On promotion as Deputy IGP, he was posted to Karnataka State Fire and Emergency Services from 2012 to 2014.
Asserting that welfare of 'men' (read police personnel) in the police unit will be his priority, Sekhar in an informal chat with media after assuming charge on Sunday said law and order and people friendly policing will be uppermost on his agenda. Noting that Bengaluru City Police has a well formed culture of use of social media tools in daily policing, Sekhar said he will strive to ensure that use of social media by Mangaluru City Police will be institutionalized.
Seeking cooperation from all stakeholders including media during his tenure as city's top cop, Sekhar parried a question on his observation of the coastal city and the tag of communally sensitivity attached to it. He was forthright in asserting that he will need some time to get to know the city better and the issues pertaining to local policing before formulating his strategies and go about implementing them. Sekhar later met the senior police officers of the unit.
