Watchmen in societies doze off at night, police raise security alarm

PUNE: The Wakad police carried out surprise checks in around 350 housing societies during the small hours of Wednesday and found around 60% of the on-duty security guards in deep sleep.



Concerned over the finding, Wakad police senior inspector Satish Mane has written letters to the societies and private security agencies, asking them to ensure that the guards were vigilant at night.



“One watchman at a society was in such deep sleep that repeated blowing of whistle by our men could not wake him up,” Mane told TOI, adding that police would carry out such surprise checks every month.

The officer said burglars often strike during the Diwali vacation because many flats remained locked with several residents going out for holiday.

“The number of flats remaining locked during the period is more. The burglars often take advantage of this and break into the apartments. The watchmen need to be on their toes at night to avert burglaries,” Mane said.

Police decided to carry out the checks during the early hours to verify if the watchmen guarding the housing societies in Wakad were alert. “We formed 35 teams. Each team has two policemen and was told to check the watchmen and security guards in 10 housing societies in the Wakad, Rahatani and Kalewadi areas,” Mane said.

Pimpri Chinchwad police commissioner R K Padmanabhan has directed all police stations in the commissionerate to prepare a database of housing societies in their respective areas. “We have a database of about 400 societies. It includes the names of the societies, number of flats and security personnel and their contact numbers,” Mane said.

The wee hour worries

Between 2am and 4.30am on Wednesday, the 35 teams conducted checks in as many as 350 housing societies. “We told our men to click photographs of the watchmen, asleep or awake. We told our personnel to wake up the guards found sleeping and collect their details,” Mane said.

“The finding was alarming. Over 150 watchmen and security guards were found asleep. In some societies, we found three security guards on duty and all of them were fast asleep,” he said.

The Wakad police have formed groups of housing societies and security agencies on WhatsApp.

“The photographs of the watchmen found asleep were shared in these groups. Many societies appreciated our move and assured immediate action. Some security agencies requested us not to inform the societies about the lapses,” Mane said.

Tiring shifts and little sleep

A security guard at a housing society in Wakad said, “Two of us guard the society, but I am the only one who works for 24 hours. It is but natural that I doze off at night.” He said he has to work in two shifts of 12 hours each, as the salary is “meagre”.

On an average, a security guard earns between Rs 8,000 and Rs 10,000 per month for a 12-hour shift. A guard from another society said he has to do additional work such as operating the water pumps early in the morning and washing flat owners’ vehicles.