The law of dialectics has worked. Insecurity has secured scores of security agencies. The thrills of reel life hero though missing, detective and security services in the country are witnessing a boom.

"Business has definitely increased by leaps and bounds," admits Colonel Tapan Sharma, Delhi region vice-president of Security and Intelligence Services (India) Limited, a company claiming to be the leader in the field with a turnover of Rs 25 crore.

Three reasons have created the boom, according to Sharma, namely, feeling of insecurity, growth of business and gross inequity in society leading to rise in crime. "We are removing insecurity from the minds of people which the Government and the police have not been able to do. And once when this is done, an individual or an organisation is at its productive best leaving the security problem to us."

The growth of small businesses, coupled with the entry of multinationals and a deteriorating law and order problem, has resulted in a quantum leap in the demand for the services of security companies.

"With the gap between the rich and the poor widening in cities, there is more jealousy and ambition causing an increase in the crime rate with the result that more people want security," points out Sanjeev Paul, Managing Director of Scientific Security Management Services.

"Even children are sent to schools with security guards. In our times, we never heard of people keeping guards at their houses," says Sharma.

The demand for security guards for houses is on the rise especially during the day. "This is because of the increasing instance of murder of women and elderly who are alone at home during day-time," says J D Bhasin of Elite Industrial Services.

Sachit Kumar, executive director of Globe Detectives, however, labels the growth in business as a normal one. "I would not call it a boom. It might have been the case with the small companies but for a big company, like ours which is well-established, the growth has been just normal even though we recorded a 17 to 19 per cent increase in business. But one positive effect has been the growth of professionalism in the field."

Globe Detectives, set up in 1961, has emerged into a Rs 24-crore company, employing over 6,000 persons with 16 branches nation-wide. But detective services continue to be its main stake. "We are basically information gatherers and with the widest network in the field, we face no competition.

In fact, 95 per cent of those working in other agencies are our ex-employees," claims Kumar.

An employee is an asset for any company, more so for those in this business since each employee undergoes rigorous training. "We spend around Rs 10,000 to Rs 12,000 on an average on one person's training which is spread over 12 weeks. But many agencies poach on our manpower especially on those who have been trained in chemical fire-fighting," claims Sharma. The fear of other agencies wooing trained manpower has made many players in the field keep their business operations a secret.

"We offer a range of services and have our own dog and karate squads. We have all the three kinds of dogs - attack, guard and sniffer. Recently, they proved to be heroes during the international jewellery show in Delhi when they caught thieves without any human assistance."

SIS often takes police help for training sniffer dogs in spotting explosives like RDX. "Many other agencies tried breeding and training dogs but they failed miserably," claims a proud Sharma.

SIS runs a full-fledged centre in Belchampa, Bihar, where recruits are sent for training after a thorough investigation of their credentials. Globe and Scientific Security also have their own training schools.

The security business offers a lucrative option for ex-servicemen. "It is quite logical for them to enter into this business since that is the only thing they know," observes C L Gauri, who left the Air Force in 1948 and helped Lt Col J S Paul to set up Scientific Security in 1974. "We started the business with 10 people in 1972 and later on floated the company with Rs 50,000 in hand and 100 guards. Now, we have a turnover of Rs 4 crore."

If it is the service officers who provide the brains for security agencies, it is men from the ranks who are taken in as guards. "We get people from the resettlement project of the army but there are guards coming from all over the country," informs Gauri.

Whether it is men from Nepal, Uttar Pradesh or Bihar, the most important thing in this business, however, remains the same - reliability. This is more so for detective services. Says Kumar: "Most of the time, people come to us after they have been to the police and it is mainly due to the latter's inefficiency that people start relying on us."

The scope is immense and market unlimited. But still the security and detective agencies are operating away from public glare with virtually no norms governing them though they look forward to a Government regulation having sieving effect on this sector. This is second in the four-part series on private detective and security agencies.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.