Security guards still untrained, ill-equipped

The accidental firing on Monday has brought to light the lack of trained security personnel even at prime locations in a city such as Gurgaon.

Preliminary scrutiny of documents produced by absconding guard Rahul Kumar have revealed that the arms licence he carried was issued from Khagaria district, Bihar, whereas he hailed from Aurangabad. His documents also bore two different dates of issuance.

The Haryana government invoked the Private Securities Agencies Regulation Act (PSVRA), 2005, in the state that made it mandatory for security agencies to get a licence from the state police department. There has, however, not been much change in the recruitment of security personnel, who remain untrained and ill-equipped, experts said.

“Almost 90% of the gun-wielding security personnel do not know how to operate a gun. They are not supposed to load the gun, as it is for self-defence purposes. The PSVRA invoked in Haryana is eye-wash. The police department does not physically check out security personnel, but only verifies the proprietorship of the security agency before issuing licences to operate,” said Maj (Retd) TC Rao of Skylark Group, which is in the business of private security.

The victim’s maternal uncle Himanshu Chawla said that he strongly suspected that the arms licence Kumar had produced was forged, as the documents bore contradictory years of issuance of licence. “I suspect that the guard produced a fake arms licence to get the job, and he was not even trained enough to handle a gun,” he added.

The DLF Security management, however, refuted the allegations, saying that proper training was given to each and every guard hired by them and Kumar was also adequately trained.

Trinity Tower residents have expressed annoyance with the way the guard loitered around with the gun. “Instead of hanging it on his shoulder, he was seen brandishing the same in his hand. Why did he allow a child to play with his gun,” said a resident, requesting anonymity.