Madan Mohan Lal Hooja (5 September 1914 – 6 April 1990) was an Indian Imperial Police officer who became Director General of Security and Director of the Intelligence Bureau.
Early life
Hooja was educated at St. Xavier's School and St. Xavier's College, Calcutta. He was appointed to the Bengal (later West Bengal) cadre of the I.P. on 18 March 1939 through competitive examination.History of Services of Indian Police Service as on 1st January 1960, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, 1961, page 135 After serving at various places of undivided Bengal, lastly as Special SP of the Intelligence Branch, he went on central deputation on 18 June 1947 and joined the I.B.
Central Service
In the I.B., Hooja became Joint Director on 18 April 1960.Gazette of India notification He became the No. 2 of B. N. Mullik, Director of IB, and was expected to succeed him. But when Mullik retired in 1964, Sharda Prasad Verma, an IG of Bihar, was appointed as DIB.The Legacy of DIBs, extract from India: The Crucial Years, T. V. Rajeswar Mullick, as DIB, had raised three covert organisations in 1963: Special Service Bureau (now Sashastra Seema Bal), Aviation Research Centre and Special Frontier Force. After retirement, Mullick got re-employed as Director General of Security, with command over these three organisations. After Mullik's final retirement, Hooja became DG (Security) on 1 August 1966.Gazette of India notification When Verma went on pre-retirement leave, Hooja became DIB on 15 January 1968.Gazette of India notification Hooja was transferred out of the I.B. in November 1971 as permanent vice-chairman of the Committee on Police Training, commonly called Gore CommitteeGore Committee Report on Police Training, website of Puducherry Police and retired from the same on 31 December 1972.Court case, Delhi High CourtGazette of India notification, Hooja's successor Atma Jayaram took over as DIB on 12 November 1971 (afternoon) During his tenure as Director, Hooja had to bear with the break-up of the I.B. when R&AW was carved out of it over Hooja's strenuous protests and non-cooperationMission R&AW, R. K. Yadav, 2014, page 28 and foreign intelligence was removed from the purview of the I.B.
Post-retirement
After retirement, Hooja went to Calcutta where he worked as director of B. N. Elias & Company for 15 years.Court case, Delhi High Court During this time, he had also worked as a member of the L. P. Singh Committee, set up by the Janata Party government to probe the misuse of I.B. and C.B.I. during the Emergency and suggest remedial measures.Re-Energising Indian Intelligence, Manoj Shrivastava, 2013, page 33
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