BBMP office has no security measures

June 10, 2010 03:31 pm | Updated July 11, 2016 11:54 pm IST

The Bruhat Bangalore Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) has a huge jurisdiction of 900 sq km and its head office attracts people from across the city. However, the absence of a foolproof security system there appears to have become a cause for concern.

Significantly, some councillors have criminal antecedents or are related to those who have been arrested for alleged involvement in heinous crimes, including rape and murder.

Several businessmen, realtors and politicians, who are facing a threat to their lives, also visit the BBMP office regularly.

Weapons

“Because of lack of security, these people prefer to carry their licensed weapons. However, there is no system to check if councillors with criminal antecedents are carrying illegal weapons. They are not granted arms licence till they are acquitted of all charges,” said a senior police official who did not want to be quoted.

The official said after the gram panchayat elections, four persons were murdered and around 30 people, mostly supporters of candidates, were injured during clashes between rival groups. “This may happen in BBMP premises also, given the lax security.

The councillors would have remained under [the radar] had they not been elected. They are now sitting ducks for rivals who can easily target them at the BBMP office,” the official added.

In fact, a section of the councillors as well as BBMP officials are concerned over this.

A lot of rivalry

The official added there is rivalry between various land developers and contractors who submit their bids to execute works worth crores. Stressing on the need to put in place a security system, he said the BBMP urgently needs metal detectors (both door-frame and hand-held), mirror trolley explosive detectors, sirens, baggage scanner, concealed weapon detectors, security briefcase, and CCTVs in all corners.

“Currently, the old building in the premises has 34 CCTVs, while the new one has none. The city corporations of Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Delhi all have in place security systems. The BBMP does not even have a hand-held metal detector.”

Police proposal

The police are shortly expected to write to Mayor S.K. Nataraj and Commissioner Bharat Lal Meena to take steps to upgrade security in the BBMP head office.

“We have also realised the gravity of the issue as a few councillors have criminal cases against them. We will meet with Police Commissioner Shankar Bidari soon for discussions,” Mr. Nataraj said.

Top News Today

Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.