Shaikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, on his first visit to Mumbai, was so impressed with the bandobast that he decided to empty his pockets to tip his local guardians.
MUMBAI: Four hundred personnel of the Mumbai police’s protection branch recently assigned to guard an out-of-town VIP probably began the task recalling the thousand drudgeries that attend to such duties. But when the assignment ended yesterday, they had to investigate the exchange rate to work out the magnitude of the reward they had earned for their toil: US $100 per head.
The individual whose security had been entrusted to the police was the crown prince of Bahrain. Shaikh Salman bin Hamad al-Khalifa, on his first visit to Mumbai, was so impressed with the bandobast that he decided to empty his pockets to tip his local guardians.
The gesture has been valued at Rs20 lakh — well, it was a princely pocket. The prince wants police to disburse the sum equally among those who were part of the cordon.
“This is not an unusual occurrence and reflects Mumbai police’s security arrangements,” a senior officer said. “When the Pope visited Mumbai in the early 1960s, all 100 personnel who constituted the inner security ring, and indeed those on the outer levels, were given a one-step promotion on his explicit request.”
In 1984 a member of the Gulf royalty visited Mumbai and expensively thanked police for their time. “The king gave a Rado watch to each member of the security team,” the officer said.
Police chief DN Jadhav said he was heartened by the high-profile endorsement of quality secured by his department. “But the constabulary is not permitted to accept gifts or cash. This is part of the law, framed years ago, which ensures that there is no scope for misuse of such closeness.”
But another officer said the law allows for intricacies. “Only in the case of visiting government heads, such as prime ministers and presidents, are personnel barred from accepting gifts,” he said. “In this instance, a visiting prince awarded personnel for diligent services. It would have been an insult to him to decline the gift.”
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