Burglars make off with Rs 64L jewellery as guard sleeps

Burglars struck at a housing society in Vile Parle (E) and took away diamond and gold jewellery worth Rs64 lakh from a flat on February 3. The theft took place despite presence of a security guard at the complex – Wadh Apartment.

The police said the thieves also sneaked into another block at the same building, situated on Park Road and stole cash of Rs15,000. They suspect this happened because the lone watchman was fast asleep.

According to complainant Ramkrishna Balchandra Bhagwat, he and his wife had gone to a relative's place in Dombivali. The discovered the crime on their return the next day. Bhagwat, 60, said the thieves had entered the house by breaking the main door.

While the Vile Parle police have launched an investigation to nab the criminals, the incident once brings the spotlight on a force that have been entrusted with the task of guarding our homes, but is often found lacking.

Inspector Mahadev Nimbalkar of Vile Parle police station said, "The reason why the house-breaking took place was that the watchman was sleeping. This gave the burglars easy access to Bhagwat's flat."

Nimbalkar said there are several societies in Vile Parle (east), where the management has hired only one guard for round-the-clock duty. The result is that they sleep at night. "In fact, in some societies, domestic helps double up as security guard," said Nimbalkar.

The situation is the fallout of a complex set of issues. The workforce of security guards in Mumbai mainly comprise of migrants, who are desperate to cling on to a job. They accept the job for a monthly salary as little as Rs5,000 to Rs6,000. But the here problem starts.

Unable to eke out a living with such a meagre pay, guards take up multiple jobs. So a watchman works at one society during daytime and ends up working at another at night. Cops say most watchmen, who are tired, sleep on the job at night. In Wadh Apartment case too, the guard told the police that he had not seen or heard anything that night.

According to Vile Parle resident Manoj Soni, in many societies, members show scant regard for security at their premises. He said, "Despite knowing that a watchman is on duty, residents often use them to pay utilities bills and for household works like getting milk or bread. Office bearers too ask them to deposit cheques in banks."

Thane resident R Subhashree said in her society the watchman is responsible for maintaining the water supply. "He watchman operates the pump to send water to the overhead tanks. And he does this three to four times a day. This means the gate remains unguarded on that many occasions."

Akhilesh Tiwari, owner of an security agency at Sakinaka, said, "The minimum salary for a watchman should be in the range of Rs12,000 - Rs15,000. and they should be given the benefit of PF and medical."

According to Tiwari, often small societies are not ready to pay more for guards. This leads to entry of unscrupulous agencies that supply manpower without doing adequate background check and training them.

Police officials many agencies play with the lives of people by employing people without getting a police verification done. "Even societies don't bother to register with the local police. There are several incidents where security guards involved in robbery, rape and murders," added officer.

In August 2012, a security guard at upscale Bhakti Park, Wadala, killed a law graduate after she resisted his attempt to rape her. Suspect Sajjad Ahmed attacked Pallavi Purkayastha, 25, apparently after being rebuked by her a few days ago.