December 01, 2006	Friday	Ziqa'ad 9, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, Nov 30: Reports regarding involvement of some private security agencies’ guards in criminal activities on Thursday prompted the capital administration to pull all such agencies under a monitoring system to keep a vigil on their activities.

“It is for the first time that the ICT administration will perform as a regulatory body to check misuse of the authority being enjoyed by private security agencies’ guards,” Chief Commissioner Islamabad Khalid Pervez told Dawn.

He said the local administration and the police had observed that many security guards had become a threat to the lives of those who had hired them for safety and protection.

Some 122 private security agencies have so far been registered with the ICT administration, but most of them are stated to be dormant and their managements have no check on the activities of their guards who had been provided arms and uniform.

“We have directed the managements of all private security agencies to provide the local administration entire details about them,” he said.

Mr Pervez said the ICT administration would compile complete data of guards working with the private security agencies so that they could be traced whenever they committed any crime.

He said three teams led by officials of local administration and the police would visit to the offices of the security agencies and monitor their working. “We would also asses whether the guards had undergone proper training and are able to meet any eventuality,” he said.

The chief commissioner said the monitoring teams would also check salary structure of the agencies and revise salaries of the guards in keeping with the price hike. It has been learnt that most of the private security agencies are not good pay masters, compelling their guards to resort to illegal ways for their survival.

Most of the guards are hired from remote areas, and they are paid just Rs3,000 to Rs4,000 monthly salary, while the agencies charge Rs10,000 to Rs20,000 per month for providing one guard to their clients.