From our research
What this interview looks like
Sub-inspector selection varies by state. Maharashtra's MPSC runs a short interview after the mains and the physical test, Tamil Nadu's TNUSRB holds a viva-voce of 10 marks, West Bengal's WBPRB ends with a personality test, and Karnataka's civil PSI scheme has carried a viva-voce after the written paper. Punjab, Haryana, Kerala, Gujarat and Delhi Police through SSC CPO currently select on written and physical tests with no interview, so for those candidates the next face-to-face encounters are the document-verification interaction and the departmental boards during probation and promotion. Where a board sits, it is three to five officers, usually chaired by a DIG or SP-rank officer, for ten to twenty minutes, and it mixes English with Hindi or the state language. It probes background and fitness, basic criminal law under the BNS, BNSS and BSA, local policing in the candidate's district, cyber crime, and above all presence of mind in field situations: a mob, a VIP convoy, a custody incident, a bribe. Marks are small compared with the written paper but they decide ties and borderline ranks. The ExamPilot mock compresses this into fourteen minutes with the same four voices and scores awareness, situational judgement, integrity and communication.
How it is weighted
A viva-voce of small weight after the written examination, judged on aptitude, attitude and presence of mind; the written paper decides most of the merit. The 2021 recruitment was annulled after malpractice, so the scheme has been under revision; confirm whether the viva is part of the current notification.
Who this is for
Graduates who have cleared the endurance and physical standard tests and the written papers of the Karnataka State Police PSI recruitment, which has included a viva-voce for aptitude, attitude and presence of mind in recent schemes. Kannada knowledge is expected and the board often asks in Kannada.
The panel focuses on
- Your home district, sport and fitness, and why the Karnataka police
- BNS and BNSS basics: FIR, arrest, custody timelines, explained to a villager at the thana
- Karnataka context: Bengaluru commissionerate and traffic, the coastal belt and communal sensitivity, Belagavi border issues, Kannada-language disputes, hill and forest districts
- Cyber crime in Bengaluru, the tech-worker victim profile and the Cyber, Economic and Narcotics police stations
- Field situations: a stampede risk at a temple fair, a moral-policing mob, a bribe for a passport verification
- Composure, honesty about other attempts and integrity after the recruitment scam
Step 1
Pick your subject
The expert on the panel probes these areas at the level of this post. Optional here; you can choose during setup.
Step 2
Choose how you want to be interviewed
1:1 interview
One interviewer runs every round and adapts the focus as you go. Lower pressure; ideal for a first attempt.
Shri Devendra Singh Rathore, IPS (Retd.)
Chairperson
Panel interview · 3 members
Most realisticEach member leads their own round and hands over to the next. They hear each other, so a weak answer will be revisited.
Shri Devendra Singh Rathore, IPS (Retd.)
Chairperson
Smt. Anjali Deshpande, IPS
External member
Dr. Kailash Nair
Psychologist
What to expect
5 rounds · 14 minutes
A uniformed-service board compressed into 14 minutes: a senior officer chairs and opens on background, fitness and motivation; an external member tests working knowledge of criminal law, local policing and cyber crime in the candidate's chosen area; the chair then puts field situations on mobs, VIP duty, custody, corruption and communal tension; a board psychologist probes pressure and integrity; the chair closes. Real state police SI boards and the IB ACIO interview sit three to five members for 10 to 25 minutes, mix English with Hindi or the state language, and weigh presence of mind and integrity above textbook recall.
- Round 1
Background, fitness and motivation
· 3:00Settle the candidate, understand their home district, education, sport and fitness routine, and hear a credible reason for choosing the police or intelligence service over other government jobs.
Shri Devendra Singh Rathore, IPS (Retd.)2–3 questionsup to 1 follow-up each - Round 2
Law, local policing and cyber crime
· 4:00Test working knowledge in the candidate's chosen area: criminal law basics under the new codes, local policing and the state context, cyber and economic offences, internal security, public order or protection of women and children.
Smt. Anjali Deshpande, IPS3–4 questionsup to 2 follow-ups each - Round 3
Field situations
· 4:00Assess presence of mind, lawful use of force, chain of command and integrity through two field situations: a mob or communal flashpoint, a VIP duty, a custody incident or a bribe or political pressure.
Shri Devendra Singh Rathore, IPS (Retd.)2–2 questionsup to 1 follow-up each - Round 4
Pressure and integrity
· 2:00Probe temperament, stress tolerance and personal integrity: how the candidate reacts to provocation, failure, long hours away from family, and temptation.
Dr. Kailash Nair1–2 questionsup to 1 follow-up each - Round 5
Closing
· 1:00Close the interview professionally and check readiness for the realities of posting and training.
Shri Devendra Singh Rathore, IPS (Retd.)1–1 questions
Sample questions
Police SI Karnataka PSI interview questions
Questions panels commonly ask in the Police SI Karnataka PSI interview, with what a strong answer covers. Practise them aloud with the AI panel.
- Explaining law
A villager comes to the thana and says his neighbour encroached his land and threatened him. Explain to him in simple words what you can and cannot do.
What a strong answer covers
Explains that the land dispute itself is a civil or revenue matter for courts or revenue officers, while the threat may be a cognizable or non-cognizable offence that police can register and act on, and guides him on both routes. Avoid either refusing to help or acting as a civil court.
- Arrest procedure
Under the BNSS, how long can you keep an arrested person before producing him before a magistrate, and what must you tell him at the time of arrest?
What a strong answer covers
Within twenty-four hours excluding travel time, as under Section 58 of the BNSS; the person must be informed of the grounds of arrest and the right to bail where applicable, a relative or friend must be informed, and an arrest memo prepared. Avoid keeping a person informally without recording arrest.
- Cyber crime
A software engineer in Bengaluru received a call from a fake officer and was kept on a video call for hours in a so-called digital arrest. How would you respond to his complaint?
What a strong answer covers
Reassures him that no lawful digital arrest exists, records the complaint at the cyber police station, gets details of calls and transactions, alerts banks through the 1930 helpline and portal, and uses awareness messages. Avoid blaming the victim.
- Public order
A temple fair in a coastal district is expected to draw three times more people than last year. How would you plan the bandobast?
What a strong answer covers
Assesses entry and exit points, barricading, crowd density, separate queues, communication, medical teams and coordination with temple authorities and other departments, with a contingency plan. Avoid underestimating crowd risk.
- Moral policing
A group of men stops a couple of different religions at a bus stand in Mangaluru and threatens them. You reach there. What do you do?
What a strong answer covers
Protects the couple immediately, disperses the group firmly, registers a case against the offenders, and prevents rumours, while acting impartially regardless of community. Avoid treating the couple as the problem.
- Bribery
An applicant slips a five-hundred-rupee note into his file and asks you to clear his passport verification today. What do you do?
What a strong answer covers
Returns the money firmly in front of a witness, tells him verification will follow the normal procedure and timeline, records or reports the attempt to the station in-charge as per rules, and completes verification honestly. Avoid accepting it as a small gift or quietly ignoring the attempt.
- Integrity
The 2021 PSI recruitment in Karnataka was cancelled after malpractice. What does that episode mean for you as a new officer?
What a strong answer covers
Shows balanced awareness that the recruitment was cancelled after malpractice came to light, recognises the damage to public trust and honest candidates, and states what integrity will mean in daily work, such as transparent procedures and refusing favours. Avoid speculation or naming individuals.
- Local context
What is the role of the Kannada language in policing, and how would you handle a language dispute in Bengaluru?
What a strong answer covers
Recognises that speaking Kannada helps citizens trust the police and get justice, and that a language dispute must be handled impartially: separating the parties, de-escalating, acting on any offence under the law and preventing rumours online. Avoid taking sides by language or community.
- Motivation and fitness
Why the Karnataka Police and not another state job, and what does your weekly fitness routine look like?
What a strong answer covers
A genuine reason linked to a personal experience or an interest in field work and public service in Karnataka, plus an honest fitness routine such as running, sport or gym with current timings, which the board may test. Avoid exaggerating fitness or giving a motivation based on power.
Reading is not rehearsing. Answer these out loud to an AI Police SI Karnataka PSI panel that follows up like the real one.
Practise these questionsMeet the panel
Your AI interviewers
Distinct personas, voices and questioning styles, briefed on this post.
Shri Devendra Singh Rathore, IPS (Retd.)
ChairChairperson
Retired Deputy Inspector General of Police; chairs state police sub-inspector interview boards
Firm, unhurried, old-school courteous, sharp on sequence and chain of command, dislikes bravado.
Male voice · 5 languages
Smt. Anjali Deshpande, IPS
External member
Superintendent of Police, State Cyber Crime Cell; external member on police and IB boards
Quick, precise, practical, enjoys a candidate who reasons from a real case, intolerant of section-number recitation without understanding.
Female voice · 5 languages
Dr. Kailash Nair
Psychologist
Police training academy psychologist; board member for stress and integrity assessment
Quiet, observant, non-judgemental, asks short questions and waits, notices rehearsed answers.
Male voice · 5 languages
Languages
Answer in the language you think in
The panel asks in your chosen language. Switch mid-answer if you like.
- English
- हिंदीHindi
- Hinglish (Hindi + English)Hinglish
How scoring works
A report you can act on
Every round is scored on the rubric
Each interviewer scores only the criteria their round covers. Weights add up to your overall score out of 100.
Only what you actually said counts
Feedback quotes your own answers. Rounds you skip show as “Not assessed” rather than a zero.
Communication is always measured
Fluency, clarity, confidence and structure are tracked across the whole interview, in any language.
Pass mark, then a plan
You see the pass mark for this interview, your gaps, and the courses that close them fastest.
Scored on
- Legal and policing awareness30%
Working knowledge of the BNS, BNSS and BSA basics, FIR and arrest procedure, local policing structure and state context, cyber and economic offences, internal security; states the law correctly in plain words and does not bluff.
- Situational judgement30%
Handles mobs, VIP duty, custody, bribery and communal tension with the right sequence: life and safety first, lawful minimum force, inform seniors and the magistrate where required, record everything, no shortcuts; gives concrete first actions rather than slogans.
- Integrity and composure under pressure20%
Honest about weaknesses, gaps and other attempts; refuses illegal orders and bribes with a workable plan rather than bravado; stays calm when the board pushes or disagrees; realistic about the stress and hours of the job.
- Communication and bearing20%
Clear, brief, respectful in English, Hindi or the state language; answers the question asked; gives orders and explanations a constable or a complainant would follow; good posture and eye contact implied in the voice.
Pass mark 60 / 100 · Police and intelligence service interview board
Keep exploring
More Police SI interviews
- Police SI Maharashtra PSI interviewGraduates, 19–31 years (relaxations apply), MPSC Combined Group B
- Police SI Punjab-Haryana SI interviewGraduates, 18–28 years (Punjab) / 21–27 years (Haryana), relaxations apply
- Police SI TN-Kerala SI interviewGraduates, 20–30 years (TN, relaxations apply) / 20–31 years (Kerala), Tamil or Malayalam required
- Police SI WB-Gujarat SI interviewGraduates, 20–27 years (WB, relaxations apply) / 21–35 years (Gujarat), Bengali or Gujarati expected
- Police SI Delhi Police SI interviewGraduates, 20–25 years (relaxations apply), SSC CPO