IPS officer of 1986 batch M Nageswara Rao has been appointed as CBI Joint Director for five years, according to a notification of the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), Government of India, on Wednesday.
Rao is known as a tough top cop, efficient no nonsense administrator with a humane touch and an institution builder. He is recipient of President’s Police Medal for Meritorious Service, President’s Police Medal for Distinguished Service, Special Duty Medal and Odisha Governor’s Medal.
Rao demonstrated his tough qualities in his first posting itself as SDPO of Talcher in 1989-90. Talcher those days was notoriously known as the second Dhanbad for its coal smuggling and criminal activities. He effectively controlled the situation and earned appreciation from one and all.
Besides being SP of four districts, Mayurbhanj, Nabarangapur, Bargarh and Jagatsinghpur, he was also SP, Railways at Rourkela and Cuttack as well as SP of Crime Branch.
His active interest in releasing the lodhas (a de-notified criminal tribe) in Mayurbhanj from the vicious cycle of crime-police-courts-jail-crime was also highly appreciated.
He was the first officer in Odisha to use the DNA fingerprinting technique in crime investigation in detecting an unknown rape case in Jagatsinghpur district in 1996, which ended in conviction for seven long years.
Rao’s contribution as Crime Branch SP in successful prosecution and getting the main accused Belu Das convicted in the 1991 hooch tragedy that killed more than 200 people in Cuttack was commendable.
His anti-insurgency works in Manipur as DIG (Operations) of CRPF earned him lot of appreciation.
As head of the Fire Service in Odisha, he completely transformed this moribund organisation into one of the best in India. For the outstanding work of the Fire Service under his leadership during the Phailin cyclone in 2013 and Hudhud cyclone Odisha and AP in 2014, the First CM’s Award for Excellence in Governance and Innovation in Public Service carrying a citation and Rs 5 lakh cash were awarded to Rao.
AP Chief Minister N Chandra Babu Naidu felicitated Rao at a public function in Visakhapatnam.