114 security guards had turned to crime in 2014

114 security guards had turned to crime in 2014

FPJ BureauUpdated: Saturday, June 01, 2019, 04:16 AM IST
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Mumbai :  Security guards seem to be doing everything except providing security. According to statistics available with the Mumbai police, a total of 114 security guards in 2014 were involved in crimes such as theft, house break-ins, robbery, rape, murder, attempted murder and others.

These include a botched ATM robbery in Malabar Hill in November 2014, wherein a security guard had conspired with two robbers to break into the ATM he was guarding – however, they could not open the cash compartment.

The issue of security guards and the ‘security’ that they provide came into sharp focus after the Vile Parle robbery of January 16 — wherein the driver of a cash van that ferries money from banks to ATMs and the security men guarding the money robbed Rs 2 crore from the cash van in an elaborate plan. Incidentally, one of these guards was an employee of a security agency; he was also the mastermind of the robbery plan and had a criminal background, too.

While incidents of security guards of housing societies being involved in crimes are commonplace, the problem of guards working for security agencies, which are hired mostly by banks, committing crimes is relatively new.

Gurcharan Singh Chau-han, president of Security Association of India (SAI), said that 90% of housing societies in Mumbai employ security guards whose police verification is not done because it is a huge hassle. “Mumbai police takes a long

time to get the verification done, months together, in fact. Neither the members of a housing society nor a security guard, who has to report for duty every day, have the time to undertake several trips to the police station to get the verification done. Hence they make do without it,” Chauhan said.

He stressed on the need to have a proper mechanism for police verification of security guards, which would speed up the process and save the concerned parties much inconvenience.

“A security guard does not earn much. If he misses a day at work, he will easily lose Rs 200-300 which he cannot afford. If there is a speedy system of getting the verification done; say, for example, if it is linked to the Aadhar card, then both the guard and the housing society will be more forthcoming in getting these formalities complete,” he said.

Sources in the police said that security guards themselves go through a lot of hardship and it does not take much for a person to turn to crime when circumstances are extremely adverse. “Some security guards even work double shifts of eight hours to earn extra money. When someone’s wages are so low, it is not surprising when he commits a crime to make ends meet,” a high ranking official from the Mumbai police said.

While the number of guards involved in thefts at ATM machines is still low, according to Chauhan, an institutionalised mechanism of police verification would go a long way in helping security agencies get their employees verified.

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