MUMBAI: A housekeeping company, and not a security agency, has been providing guards to Satguru Sharan, the Bandra building where actor Saif Ali Khan was attacked last week, said top office-bearers of the Maharashtra chapter of Central Association of Private Security Industry, the apex body of India’s private security industry.
While Manoj Singh, vice-president of the association’s state chapter, said the agency has not conducted any background check on these guards, president Shiv Kumar Singh said neither does it have the operational licence mandatory under Private Security Agencies Regulation Act nor has it given adequate training or equipment to the security team. Shiv also claimed that no visitors’ register is maintained at the building. Police said they are ascertaining these claims.
The building’s security setup came under tight scrutiny after it was revealed that Khan’s alleged attacker, Shariful Fakir, gained easy access to his quadruplex.
Shiv said the problem of substandard security measures isn’t restricted to the Bandra building. He said many housing societies reach out to unlicensed agencies in the hope of minimising expenses. “These agencies neither possess GST registration nor provide provident fund and other employment benefits to their guards,” he alleged. He said the entry of online service providers in the sector has made regulation more difficult.
A private security official agreed that many housing societies are keen on hiring cheap labour, rather than verifying the agency’s credentials. “The quality of service, thus, gets compromised. Govt should penalise societies that employ staffers from unlicensed agencies.”
JCP (law and order) Satyanarayan Chaudhary said police will take stringent action against errant agencies. He said agencies must follow an SOP for ‘character verification’.
Industry sources said the attack on Khan at his home has served as a wake-up call and many celebrities are now approaching licensed security agencies registered with the state federation.
The private security industry has emerged as a substantial employment generator in India, with 50,000 registered agencies. Growing at 15-20% annually, the sector provides employment to over 1 crore persons nationwide, according to sources. MMR has nearly 1,500 licensed private security agencies with 6 lakh-odd security guards overseeing housing, govt and corporate buildings, but another 1,200 unlicensed agencies operate with 2 lakh untrained guards. The combined annual turnover of these agencies in MMR is about Rs 3,000 crore.
