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Journalism of Courage
A security appraisal of the Bharat Diamond Bourse in Bandra-Kurla Complex by the Mumbai Police has thrown up startling loopholes in the system. According to the police,there are several blind spots in the complex that existing CCTV cameras do not cover while a number of cameras placed inside the Customs Hold Area were found to be non-functional. The police said guards at the entrance of the bourse also failed to detect weapons concealed by officers in plainclothes during an exercise. Bourse authorities have,however,rejected the findings.
In August,the police sent constables in plainclothes carrying knives to the exchange. Surprisingly,their arms were neither detected during frisking nor while passing through the door frame metal detectors,said an officer.
You should see the crowd at the entrances between 10.30 am and noon every day. Access control and frisking at the entry points is poor. The crowd also makes those entering inside easy prey for pickpockets, said a senior officer.
Following the exercise,a letter was sent to the bourse authorities. A meeting was convened by Namdeo Chavan,DCP (Zone VIII),days after diamonds worth Rs 18 lakh were stolen from the strong room by the employee of an export house in August. He was arrested on September 8.
Sources said Chavan apprised the bourse authorities of the chinks in their security.
There are several blind spots that the CCTV cameras do not cover. Further,several cameras in the customs area were non-functional, the officer said.
In financial year 2012-2013,diamonds and gold jewellery worth was Rs 22.55 crore was cleared for export in the 24,000 sq ft customs area in the bourse complex. Instances of export firm employees pockets being picked were also reported last month.
Bourse authorities laid the blame on the traders. We are responsible only for access control and securing the perimeter. The onus of preventing thefts lies on traders. We issue advisories to them to get their employees registered, said Shirish Inamdar,head of security at the bourse.
He added that no one could enter the premises unseen and dismissed the police findings. If the police had observed any lacunae,D Sivanandan,who serves as an adviser,and I are capable of handling them. All our CCTV cameras are of the highest quality and functional, he said.
In the August meeting,the police said traders would have to make their employees accountable to minimise thefts. There is no record of employees arriving at or leaving the bourse. Someone has to be held accountable at each level in case there is a theft. Their system of hiring people on the basis of trust also has to change, the police officer said.
Naresh Mehta,the bourses convenor (customs liaison),said that they were working to implement the polices pointers. We are following the police guidelines. We will soon make it mandatory for people bringing in consignments for customs appraisal to manually note their time of entry and exit. The traders are now slowly getting police verification done for their employees.
srinath.rao@expressindia.com
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