KARACHI, Jan 8: The number of private security guards in the city has exceeded the sanctioned strength of police force, practically leaving the city at the mercy of security guards rather than police.

Official data obtained by Dawn shows that there are over 180 private security agencies operating in the city, having a combined strength ranging from 50,000 to 52,000. On the other hand, the sanctioned strength of policemen is 29,000, mainly posted at the 100 or so police stations.

The private security agency whose two guards have escaped with over Rs150 million worth of currency from Saima Trade Towers would be the ninth company whose operating licence is likely to be cancelled by the home department. Licences of eight security agencies have already been cancelled by the department for their guards’ involvement in robberies.

“As the process requires a legal course, we have issued a show-cause notice to the Silver Eagle security agency. Once their reply is received, their licence would be cancelled,” said provincial home secretary Brig (retd) Mohammad Mohtaram.

Informally, on several occasions, particularly when Rauf Siddiqui was home minister, the home department communicated to the owners of private security agencies not to hire people from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata), as the statistics showed their involvement in crimes, an official of the home department told Dawn on the condition of anonymity. However, the home secretary said being citizens of Pakistan one could not discriminate against the people of a particular area.

In spite of the foolproof verification system of the National Database Registration Authority, which charged Rs100 for verification of an NIC, these security companies did not bother to go for that simple procedure, Brig Mohtaram said.

Besides, being a security guard is not a profession. They hardly stay on this job for a month as they switch over the moment they get a better paid job.

In view of the law and order situation in the city, the need for private security guards has increased over the years. All multinationals feel secure in the presence of the guards, but the level of their competence was nowhere of what was required, observed Sharfuddin Memon, chief of the Citizen-Police Liaison Committee.

Citing several lacunae, such as lapses in verification or fake guarantors provided by a security guard at the time of hiring, Mr Memon said guards even didn’t have proper training to handle a weapon. He cited several instances where guards ended up injuring their associates, or wounded or killed themselves by mishandling their own weapons.

He recalled a recent instance that occurred in the DHA in which a security guard killed a woman visiting the city from the United States just because she was wearing western cloths.

The private security agencies often enter into a one-sided agreement with their clients under which they do not take the responsibility of any offence their employee might commit, said Mr Memon, citing at least two cases during which the CPLC encountered such a situation.

Defending the role of private security agencies, the chairman of the All Pakistan Security Agencies Association, Colonel Nisar Khara, said they fulfilled all the requirements of the code of conduct by carrying out proper verification and seeking references.

“But if someone has a certain hidden agenda, what one can do about this?” Colonel Khara said.

He said if one or two persons turned out to be the “bad eggs”, that didn’t mean that the entire clutch was rotten. Even police had such characters in their ranks, the colonel remarked.

“Following the armed holdup on Sunday, police had detained the owner of the security agency, Mr Khizer. But we lodged a protest with the government, questioning the rationale behind his detention. He was released shortly afterwards,” the APSAA chairman recalled.

The Karachi police are preparing a proposal to be sent to the home department, which defines a code of conduct for the private security agencies, tightening the merit for recruitment with the consent of the law enforcement agencies.

A senior official said the proposal was in its final stages, which required complete verification of a person being hired by a security agency through the data available with the police authorities and the institution concerned.

“A person who doesn’t meet the required merit should not be hired,” said Azhar Ali Farooqi, the capital city police officer (CCPO). “This we expect as a major move towards ensuring the security company employees’ identities, which have been one of the hurdles in investigating such cases.”

Along with compiling data of the private companies’ personnel, police looked more aggressive to the bank branches, which had been witnessed as the softest target of the security persons deputed for their protection.

“We are going to ask the banks to get their guards registered at the police station concerned with at least two references, who have ground addresses,” said the CCPO. “And if the banks are changing their company or guards, they must report to the police stations. Otherwise, the banks should also be held responsible for the robberies.”