A group of retired police officers,unsung heroes behind F-1 event

After retiring from the force,these officers had joined the private consortia — making use of their expertise to ensure that mega events like these do not descend into chaos. “Besides the Uttar Pradesh Police,we had our own team of 3,000 security personnel deployed at the Buddh International Circuit. The security matrix was reviewed from time to time,and even international security agencies that had come to review the circuit were satisfied with the extent of our preparations. It was an incident-free event,with not a single case of theft or rowdyism being reported,” said Qamar Ahmed,Senior Vice-President,JSIL,who was in charge of security,transport,traffic and accreditation.

Ahmed,who retired as Special Commissioner of Police in June last year,had also served as the traffic police chief before this. S S Mannan and Jagtar Singh — who retired as Additional Deputy Commissioners of Police last year — were also part of the core team that handled security. “It was a team of eight to nine people. There were three layers of security,and 30 entrance gates. The access control to all these gates was centralised as well as computerised. All the gates were secured with door-frame metal detectors and baggage scanners. We even got explosives detectors to augment the security,” said Ahmed.

Besides the team of retired Delhi Police officers,a retired Army and Uttar Pradesh police officer were also in charge of security. “We put up 240 cameras along the circuit,and at access areas. The parking lot was checked thoroughly and the VVIP area was given more attention as international personalities were to attend the show. The local police extended all the support they could,” said Ahmed.