The civic body’s security agency has alleged that the agency, Spider Security Services, had not asked for police verification of 32 of its guards, one of whom was the rape accused
Spurred into action by the shocking rape of a 19-year-old girl by a security guard at the PMC-run Wadgaon Sheri Crematorium on April 6, the PMC security department is proposing to blacklist the security agency, which had appointed the security guard who was later arrested for the crime.
mid-day’s report on April 30
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Investigations carried out by PMC’s security department revealed that out of 239 security guards appointed by Spider Security Services, as many as 32 had been working for the past two years without undergoing the mandatory police verification. One of the security guards was the rape accused Dhanajay Namdeo Rokde (29).
In its cover story yesterday, mid-day had exposed how Shiv Sena Corporator Sachin Bhagat had written a letter of recommendation for Rokde, even though he was aware of the latter’s criminal background (‘Corporator recommended security guard without a background check,’ April 30). The security agency, in its written clarification, also claimed that the appointment was made on the basis of Bhagat’s certificate of ‘honesty,’ in April 2012.
“Our inquiry report is ready and we are sending it to the additional commissioner, who will take a final call on our recommendations. We have recommended that the security agency be permanently blacklisted for flouting the rules regarding the appointment of guards,” said Santosh Pawar, PMC security officer.
API Devendra Chavan of Yerawada police station, said, “Both the security agency and the corporator who recommended Rokde are at fault. Asking for the police verification of every guard is the basic responsibility of the agency, but they did no such thing. The corporator should think twice before recommending a person with a criminal background.”