Sadanand Date
| Photo Credit: Illustration: Sreejith R. Kumar
He is “one of the brightest gems” in the galaxy of IPS officers, retired supercop J.F. Ribeiro had said about Sadanand Date, the current chief of the National Investigation Agency (NIA). A decorated IPS officer and survivor of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, Mr. Date, who keeps a low profile, is now leading the high-stakes NIA investigation into Tahawwur Rana’s alleged role in the 26/11 attacks.
Mr. Date has been inextricably linked to the 26/11 terror attacks case at key junctures, and possibly has a detailed questionnaire ready for Tahawwur Rana, who was extradited to India from the U.S. earlier this month.
A no-nonsense officer, a man of integrity, an institution-builder, a thorough professional with deep insight and interest in policing, is how Mr. Date is described by those who have worked with him.
From working as a newspaper delivery boy in his childhood to earning a PhD in economic offences and becoming one of the country’s most reputed counter-terror experts, Mr. Date’s life is a testament to courage, and public service, says close friend and fellow IPS officer Atulchandra Kulkarni, who recently retired from service.
“Sadanand Date has functioned as a senior police officer in very difficult times, when loyalty to the party in power takes precedence over loyalty to the Constitution and the law. My generation of officers were not asked to do that. The community to which he belongs was known for its adherence to truth and justice, for its value system, for a simple living but high thinking. Sadanand has encompassed in his personality all those traits. He overcame poverty as a child and cracked the UPSC examination to enter the august portals of the IPS,” Julio Ribeiro wrote of him in 2024.
Mr. Date had fought Ajmal Kasab and Ismail Khan, the 26/11 killers, and saved the lives of women and children at Mumbai’s Cama hospital where they were to be taken as hostages. He was conferred the President’s Police Medal for Gallantry for his heroic role during the 26/11 terror attacks.
“He helped bring judicial transparency during his tenure as the Joint Secretary in the Centre at the Department of Justice under the Ministry of Law and Justice. The deradicalisation programme implemented by him as the ATS chief of Maharashtra is hailed as a sustainable model. In his 35-year long policing career, he has laid down several SOPs [standard operating procedures] which were later adopted by the Maharashtra Police in a large scale,” said Mr. Kulkarni.
As the Joint Secretary of the Department of Justice, Mr. Date oversaw a pilot programme for the active integration of two platforms in Telengana where CCTNS (Crime and Criminal Tracking Network and Systems) records were smoothly integrated with eCourts system and the data of one was consumed by another.
Versatile career
From building a new commissionerate from the scratch, to implementing the anti-Maoist operations in Maharashtra, he has handled several key responsibilities. He has been at the helm of the elite Force One (a specialised counter-terrorism unit of the Mumbai Police) when it was founded, and has headed the Economic Offences Wing of the Mumbai Police.
A Fullbright fellow, he has worked with the New York Police Department to study the investigation and prosecution of white-collar and organised crimes. He has also worked with the Central Bureau of Investigation.
Hailing from Pune, Mr. Date overcame poverty by doing odd jobs. “His father passed away when he was in Grade 8. He had to work as a newspaper vendor. His mother used to cook at other people’s houses so her three sons could complete their education,” said senior journalist and childhood friend Shailendra Paranjpe.
“He is punctual, and values others’ time. He respects everyone, irrespective of their position in the hierarchy. I have had the good fortune to work with him when the Mira-Bhayandar Vasai-Virar Commissionerate was established under him. I have seen the way he has built structures and SOPs for divisions which still function the same way,” said Amol Mandve, Sub-Divisional Police Officer, Khed, Pune Rural.
As the chief of the federal anti-terrorism body, the challenges in the North-Eastern States, the dynamics in Jammu and Kashmir and the ongoing probe into the 26/11 attacks, along with the threat of terrorism, are some of the key challenges that stare at him.
Published – April 20, 2025 01:30 am IST
