His granddaughter, police lieutenant colonel Dinara Sarnogoeva, shared his life story.
Sarnogoev was born in 1927 and passed away in 1992. He began his working life at the age of 15, in 1942, working as a herder in the Stalin Collective Farm in his native village of Ivano-Alekseevka (now Kok-Oy) in the Talas region. Due to his precision and diligence in carrying out assignments, as well as his energy, he earned the trust of the police leadership and from 1946 to 1952 began his service in the internal affairs bodies as a policeman in the Talas regional department of internal affairs. In 1952, he graduated from a special police school of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in Almaty [now Almaty], and then from a higher school in Karaganda.
According to Dinara Sarnogoeva, from 1946 to 1952, after the war, the number of crimes sharply increased due to the difficult conditions of restoring the destroyed economy. At that time, capturing criminals who were hiding and crossing from one country to another was fraught with great difficulties. Policemen searched for criminals even in neighboring Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Russia. To avoid raising suspicions when apprehending murderers, major thieves, and fugitives, Kondubai Sarnogoev worked undercover, carefully considering each step, tracking and detaining them. He found particularly dangerous criminals who had fled from other countries within 1-2 days so that their trails would not be lost. He participated in solving serious crimes. He recounted that during his work as an operative, he was threatened with attempts on his life more than once. "Once, a woman of Korean nationality was raped and killed. No one could find the criminal. At that time, there were no such developed modern technologies as now. My grandfather investigated day and night and still found the criminal. It turned out to be a person whom no one suspected," recalls Dinara Sarnogoeva.
Kondubai Sarnogoev did not seek to imprison people who stole livestock or committed minor offenses; he tried to rehabilitate them, thinking about what would happen to their families if they were imprisoned. "These people, thanks to him, reformed and expressed their gratitude to him. They remembered that he was very humane. He never took a penny from anyone, and those who brought a slaughtered sheep were scolded and sent back, saying: 'Did I ask you for food?!' Once, when my grandmother was at home, someone left a slaughtered sheep. My grandfather sent them back at night in a cart, saying: 'You brought it yourselves – you take it back yourselves.' Such qualities of his are still remembered by his children. We grew up under the care of our grandmother. She told how once kilograms of gold were brought to my grandfather at night. It turned out that a jewelry store selling gold had been robbed, and my grandfather was investigating this case. When the thieves were considered suspects, they got scared and brought kilograms of gold to my grandfather at night to bribe him. But even this gold did not change his decision. He solved the case, and since the thieves were young, he tried to reduce their prison sentence. Later, after being released from prison, these guys came to our house for tea," the granddaughter recounts.
Kondubai Sarnogoev worked in the police – from an operative of the criminal investigation department of the district police department, a district police officer to an operative of the criminal investigation department of the Frunze regional department of internal affairs. He then worked as a senior operative in the Kirov and Talas district police departments of the Kyrgyz SSR.
In 1969, he became the deputy head of the Kirov district executive committee and later served as the chairman of the Kirov district executive committee, from where he retired in 1973.
For his resourcefulness in searching for particularly dangerous criminals without delay, he was awarded a "Gratitude" by order of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Kyrgyz Republic. For his precise and exemplary performance of official duties in the fight against crime, he was awarded the Order of the Badge of Honor by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR, medals of the 1st class of the USSR for impeccable service, and valuable gifts.
According to Dinara Sarnogoeva, even after retiring, her grandfather was offered high-ranking positions. At that time, there was no state notary in the Talas region. He became one of the first to open a notary office in the Talas region. Later, he contributed to the opening of notary offices in the Talas and Kirov districts.
Until the age of seventy, he taught many young men and women the laws of the judicial and notarial system. His students later became heads of notary offices and chairpersons of courts.
He had four sons and one daughter. "Among his children, there were no police officers, but he raised worthy children who distinguished themselves in various fields. Among his grandchildren are me and my older brother, who became police officers. Unfortunately, due to a sudden illness, my brother passed away a few years ago. We hope that our children will also serve the Motherland. I am always proud of my grandfather, Kondubai Sarnogoev, who was one of the first in the Talas region to dedicate his life to serving in the police," Dinara Sarnogoeva said.
