IPL could have been held in India, say pvt security providers

Even as the high profile Indian Premier League (IPL) has been shifted out of the country, private security providers claim the tournament could have been held if the organisers had utilised the vast pool of their trained personnel.

IPL could have been held in India, say pvt security providers

The central organisation of such firms had written to IPL Chairman Lalit Modi in this regard, offering several additional services including assistance in internal and external intelligence gathering.

"In such events, at least 80 per cent of the security arrangement is already being provided by private security agencies. And for IPL, we could have played a larger role as the government cannot spare much resources due to elections," Kr Vikram Singh, Chairman Central Association of Private Security Industry, told PTI.

There are over 50 lakh trained private security personnel available in the country. This pool also include armed security guards, who are basically ex-servicemen and well-versed in handling different weapons, he said.

These agencies also offer a large pool of private intelligence personnel, who, they claim, can assist in gathering internal and external intelligence to abort any kind of threat in time.

"Intelligence is the key of security and we have a huge pool of officers trained for gathering and analysis of intelligence inputs," Singh said.

Apart from this, "the well-trained guards are capable of access control, crowd control and sniffing out any eventuality," said Brigadier B S Sankala (retd) CEO, 24 Guarding Pvt Ltd, which provided security services in all the matches of IPL held in Firozshah Kotla stadium last year.

Maj (Retd) N K Gadeok, who is associated with SLV Security Services Private Ltd, said the IPL organisers could have utilised the private security resources to soften the pressure on the government security agencies.

They say they could have provided security assistance for the cricket extravaganza by deploying 24 hours wireless communication, quick reaction teams, armed security guards and sniffer dog squads.

These security providers, however, say that given the terrorist threat perception, especially in the wake of Mumbai and Lahore attacks, a certain degree of security from the government agencies is "critical" and could not be compromised.

"If these agencies are ready to give the minimum required protection, we are confident that we can manage all other security aspects for the prestigious event," Singh added.

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