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D Roopa Wiki, Height, Age, Husband, Family, Biography & More

April 8, 20240

 

D. Roopa is an Indian Police Service officer who was appointed as the Managing Director of Karnataka State Handicrafts Development Corporation in 2021. She held various posts in Karnataka including Additional Commandant General, Commissioner of Traffic and Road Safety, and Deputy Inspector General of Prisons. She is well-versed in Indian classical music and has sung a Kannada-language song for an album, ‘Bayalaatada Bheemanna’ (2019).

Wiki/Biography

Roopa Divakar Moudgil was born on Saturday, 12 July 1975 (age 47 years; as of 2022) in Davanagere, Karnataka. Her zodiac sign is Cancer. Roopa grew up in Davanagere. She studied a Bachelor of Arts (gold medalist) at Kuvempu University in Shimoga, Karnataka. She pursued a Master of Arts in Psychology at Bangalore University.

Physical Appearance

Height (approx.): 5′ 4″

Hair Colour: Black

Eye Colour: Black

Family

Roopa belongs to a conservative Brahmin family in Davanagere, Karnataka.

Parents & Siblings

Her father, J. S. Divakar, was an engineer, while her mother, Hemavathi, worked as a superintendent at the postal department. Roopa has a younger sister, Rohini Divakar, who is an Income Tax commissioner.

Husband & Children

In 2003, Roopa got married to Munish Moudgil, an IAS officer. The duo has two children, a son, Rushil, and a daughter, Anagha.

D. Roopa with her family on a vacation

Civil Service

Indian Police Service

In 2000, D. Roopa achieved All-India rank 43 in the UPSC examinations following which she underwent training at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy in Hyderabad, Telangana, where she secured the 5th rank in her batch and was later allotted to the Karnataka Cadre. Following her training, Roopa was appointed as the Superintendent of Police (SP) in the Dharwad district of North Karnataka.

D. Roopa as Superintendent of Police

In 2004, she was assigned the task of arresting the then-Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Uma Bharti in a 10-year-old rioting case; Roopa, along with her team, arrested Uma Bharti in Hubballi (also known as Hubli), Karnataka. She served as the Superintendent of Police (SP) in various districts of Karnataka including Gadag, Bidar, and Yadgir before moving to Bangalore. D. Roopa, in 2006, transferred to Bangaluru, where she worked on several high-profile cases including the murder case of the Indian journalist Gauri Lankesh. In 2008, Roopa, as the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), took action to withdraw police vehicles that were being used without a permit in the cavalcade of former Karnataka Chief Minister B. S. Yediyurappa; moreover, she withdrew several police personnel who had been deployed as orderlies for VVIPs and politicians, including a former chief minister of Karnataka, without proper authorisation; she withdrew about 216 gunmen kept by around 81 politicians and about 8 SUV cars of the department kept by a former Chief Minister of Karnataka. While working on this case, she got her subordinate DSP Masooti suspended for trying to make a deal between her and a former MLA in Gadag, Karnataka. In 2013, she became the first lady police officer in the nation to head the cyber crime police station. In 2017, she was appointed as the Deputy Inspector General Prisons in Bengaluru. While serving as the DIG Prisons at the Bengaluru Central Jail, Roopa found out that All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) general secretary V. K. Sasikala, who was serving her imprisonment at the Bengaluru Central Jail, was provided with the privilege of getting a personal meeting room, where she used to have long meetings with visitors including politicians and having an arrangement of a personal kitchen, where food was prepared according to her preference. Roopa reported this to high authorities and claimed that the Home Department and Director General of Police (DGP) for Prison Department H. N. Sathyanarayana Rao, along with other officials, was responsible for the irregularities, which occurred at the central jail of Bengaluru. Roopa further mentioned that Sasikala was provided with the VVIP treatment at the jail as a part of which a corridor consisting of five cells had been set aside for her personal use, reportedly, in exchange for a bribe of Rs. 2 crores to the jail officials; an independent enquiry committee led by retired IAS officer Vinay Kumar held the investigation regarding V. K. Sasikala’s case in January 2019. Following the case, D. Roopa, after serving as the DIG (Prisons) in Bengaluru for nearly one month, was transferred to the post of Inspector General of Police and Commissioner of Traffic and Road Safety in Bengaluru in July 2017. In 2018, she was allotted the post of Inspector General of Police and Director of Karnataka State Fire and Emergency Services. In 2019, she was appointed as the Managing Director of the Karnataka State Housing Corporation. On 1 January 2021, she took charge as the Managing Director of the Karnataka State Handicrafts Development Corporation. Roopa was promoted to the post of Additional Director General (ADG) of Police and was appointed as the Director of the Internal Security Division of Karnataka in 2021. In September 2023, she was appointed as the Inspector General of Police of the Internal Security Division.

Controversy

D. Roopa vs Rohini Sindhuri

In February 2023, the Managing Director of the Karnataka State Handicrafts Development Corporation D. Roopa shared a picture of the Muzrai Deputy Commissioner Rohini Sindhuri on social media, claiming that Sindhuri shared her private pictures and videos with three IAS officers in 2020 and 2021. In one of the pictures shared by Roopa on social media, Sindhuri could be seen meeting K.R. Nagar MLA Sa. Ra. Mahesh. Roopa further listed 19 allegations against Rohini Sindhuri including corruption accusations. While talking about this to the media, Roopa said,

What does it mean when these kind of pictures are sent to male senior officials? This is not a private matter. I am publishing these pictures now because I was able to access it only now. If I had received it earlier, I would have published. This is not a private matter. I will take this up further. This is a violation of the code of conduct.”

In response to the allegations put up by D. Roopa, Rohini Sindhuri claimed it to be false. Sindhuri talked about this in an interview and said,

The photos are screenshots and picked from social media posts/ WhatsApp status and used to scandalise me. It is her (Ms. Roopa) standard modus operandi. She has done it in every place she has worked. She has always craved for media attention. I will take legal and other actions with appropriate authorities for her actions amounting to misconduct and criminal offences under various sections of IPC.”

In September 2023, the High Court of Karnataka dismissed a petition filed by Roopa.

Awards, Honours

On 26 January 2016, she was awarded the President’s police medal for meritorious service.

IPS officer D. Roopa Moudgil receiving the President’s medal from Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala on 26 January 2016

Favourites

  • Food: Bisi bele bath, Pulao

Facts/Trivia

  • In childhood, Roopa’s parents used to encourage her to participate in sports, dance, and extra co-curricular activities. In an interview, she talked about this and revealed that she was good at dancing, especially Bharatanatyam, and singing. She has lent her voice to a Kannada-language song from the album ‘Bayalaatada Bheemanna’ (2019).
  • In an interview, Roopa revealed that the idea of entering civil services came when she was a school student. She added that one of her school teachers asked the students of her class to discuss the profession they wanted to opt for in future with their parents and tell that in the class the next day. Roopa’s mother, Hemavathi, asked her to be a doctor, while her father, J. S. Diwakar, said that he wanted her to become an IAS or an IPS officer. The next day, Roopa went to school, where her teacher made everyone clap for her for sharing what her father said following which she realised that being an IAS or IPS officer is something special. Roopa, as a student of class 9, joined the National Cadet Corps (NCC).
  • While studying in the ninth grade, Roopa represented Karnataka at the NCC Republic Day Camp in Delhi on 26 January, where she got inspired by the speech and the Khakhi uniform of Kiran Bedi, the first woman in India to join the officer ranks of the Indian Police Service, and she started dreaming of becoming an IPS officer. Roopa was selected as the Best NCC Cadet at the Republic Day Parade.

    D Roopa (as Best National Cadet Corps (NCC) cadet) with the then Prime Minister V. P. Singh and Minister for Science & Technology Sri Raja Ramanna, representing Karnataka in New Delhi on Republic Day

  • Roopa continued being part of NCC. She passed the A, B, and C certificates of the NCC.
  • During her college days, she developed an interest in fashion following which she participated in many fashion shows and walked the ramp. In the early 90s, Roopa, as a student at A. V. K. College, won the title of ‘Miss Davanagere.’
  • While filling up the form for the UPSC examinations, she marked IPS as her first preference. She chose to be appointed as an IPS even after securing 43rd rank, which is high enough to be an IAS.
  • Roopa is a sharpshooter; she has won many awards in shooting while undergoing training at the National Police Academy.
  • She had been transferred over 40 times in 20 years of her career. She shared the transfer history of her career through a tweet and mentioned,

    I’ve been transferred more than double the times than the number of years of my career.”

  • She was once selected by the Israel Foreign Ministry to be part of the ‘Discover Israel delegation’ to promote ties between the two countries.
  • In an interview, D. Roopa revealed that she often faced some difficulties in marriage as Roopa and her husband, Munish Moudgil, belonged to different cultures; Roopa belongs to Karnataka, while Munish belongs to Jalandhar, Punjab. Roopa added that Munish once expressed his wish to see Roopa performing Karva Chauth, a one-day festival celebrated by married Hindu women for the well-being and longevity of their husbands, followed by a fast from sunrise to moonrise. Roopa, however, made him understand that she was not convinced with this tradition and was comfortable following the traditions and cultures of Karnataka.
  • Roopa likes travelling and exploring exotic places.
  • She has spoken at various TEDx conferences.

    D. Roopa at the TEDxBangalore event in 2018