The “theft” of a Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) bus from the Kempegowda Bus Station (KBS) has raised concerns over poor security at the bus station.
The station not only houses the main BMTC bus stand, but also the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus terminal. The Namma Metro station is also coming up in the vicinity. So, it is quite a challenge for the city police to provide security in the area, particularly at night as there are very few security personnel.
In fact, the Upparpet Police Station has an outpost headed by a sub-inspector at the bus stand, but it is understaffed. There are four police personnel on the premises at any given point of time. Besides this, the Security and Vigilance wing of the BMTC has 16 guards which it posts on the premises in two shifts. G. Ramesh, director (Security and Vigilance), BMTC, said it was impossible to ensure that every person who entered the bus station underwent a security check. But, random checks were carried out, he said.
According to Mr. Ramesh, there were 16 CCTV cameras installed on the premises, and there were two door-frame metal detectors.
He assured that more security personnel would be deployed on the bus station premises and more CCTV cameras would be added.