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Violations by private security agencies By Nusrat Nasarullah As the year comes to an end, two news stories of Dec 21 reflect the insecurity of our lifestyle. The picture appears grim, to say the least. The first story reads "Bank Guard breaks lockers, loots valuables". The second story reads: "Recovery of kidnapped judges demanded". The bank locker episode mirrors yet another area of insecurity in our society, a new territory - the kidnapping of judges? Let me quote a former Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, Sajjad Ali Shah, who told a recent protest rally that "the rulers who failed to recover the kidnapped judges, should better tender their resignations." Let us pursue the bank locker break-in. Let us see what happened in the case of North Nazimabad branch of the Faisal Bank on Sunday night. A solitary, obviously daring, private armed security guard, broke into the bank's vault, and got away with cash and jewellery from about 32 lockers. Forty to fifty passports were lying on the floor. Not all locker holders had come to the branch of the bank until Monday evening, and I can imagine the shock, scare and perhaps a lifelong fear that they will have. So will the others who keep their valuables in the bank lockers. There was a time when many of these valuables were kept at home. But the absence of traditional safety in the home too is now well known. The common man has little or no faith in the conventional chowkidar and the police. It is an attitude of fait accompli, really. He has no choice but to hire the services of a private security agency? See what is happening. The common man has reached a stage where he is faced with the threatening sight and the scenario of armed guards, operated by private security agencies, all which goes to show how rapidly the security levels in our lives are declining. Contemplate the fact that almost all aspects of our daily lives are now under the expansive umbrella of private security agencies. Office, home, cultural and commercial places, places of worship, airports, railway stations, banks, car parking lots, government and private establishments and so on. And what is the quality of armed private security that is available. Of course, there are good ones and there are the questionable ones. How does one decide, how can one be sure? Fraud, deception, counterfeit becomes easier as society commercialises and corporate culture escalates. Ethics and integrity are hardly talked about. Profits only. In the case of the North Nazimabad private bank branch locker break-in, according to reports, an official of the investigation wing said that the morning duty guard informed his company, "The Secure", about the robbery at 7.50am, on Monday, but the company officials reached the bank branch at 10.45am." Bilal Khan, the bank guard who indulged in the break-in, is supposed to have been helped by at least three to four persons. He hailed from Mansehra, and had joined the bank two years ago, and was posted at this branch two months back. Of course, it would be relevant to recal with indignation some of the other private security agencies that have been in the news for reasons that are very disturbing to say the least. Two guards of a private security agency, the Maverick Security Agency run by a retired colonel deprived the money-changer they were protecting, of Rs40 million, they were contracted to secure. This happened in October this year. Both guards hailed from Mardan, and are still missing, and the security firm owner has recently got interim bail. In another case (August last year), again a solitary guard posted at a private bank near Schon Circle, with the help of an accomplice, looted more than Rs10million on a Saturday night. He too remains missing, so far. These are worrying examples where security agencies are themselves failing in their assignments, and these are some big examples of default, that have been reported. There are smaller instances, says a colleague of mine who keeps an eye on the smaller signs and symbols of system lapses and shortcomings. He says very often that these armed guards are poorly paid, and they make personal requests to the very people they are serving officially, for financial help. Either a loan, or straight forward monetary assistance on compassionate grounds, for themselves or their families in the village. The reasons relate to medical help or house repair or some personal crisis. How do you refuse such requests, when you know he has a gun, and there is such all round unreliability. The Sindh home department has expressed its view on the subject of private security agencies and observed that "most of the private security agencies operating in the city do not comply with rules and regulations laid down in the Regulation and Control Ordinance 2000, and Private Security Agencies Rules 2001". The average citizen wants their names public and wonders why these agencies are violating the rules. We need to be careful, on our own, if we can, as the system is unable to ensure that? There is an All-Pakistan Security Agencies Association which has contended that the growth of these agencies is unacceptable to the police and the establishment. Why should that be? Should not they all work in harmony and in the interests of peace, and with the goals to protect the citizens from these criminals, becoming daring and deadly with time. But then one wonders about the emergence of a trend where the private security agency guards are themselves taking to crime, and using that opportunity of proximity to loot and plunder. As a citizen I find these reported incidents a source of deep anxiety. It seems that if we can feel unsafe with our policemen, we are also getting into a situation of becoming insecure with the very guards who are especially hired to protect us. Who will help us out of this mess? Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window)
