Attacks on cash van raise question over safety of guards

New Delhi: With the arrest of seven men for murdering the cash van security guard at Mayur Vihar, the Delhi police might claim to have solved the case within 10 days but the bigger question is for how long the security guards and custodians would pay with their lives in the armed heist.

The recent fatal attempts to rob cash from the van has claimed the lives of many security staff. In Narela on April 26, armed men killed a 40-year-old security guard Pem Kumar and the custodian Rajnikanth. Multiple shots were fired on them by the gang of robbers.

These attacks have raised concern over the security of the staff deployed in the cash van. In the recent case of Mayur Vihar heist, an insider Parvesh working with cash replenishment company BRINKS has provided information to the robbers that Rs 4.2 crore is being transported with just a single armed guard. This led the gang attack and kill Bishamnber in cold blood as he tried to resist the attempt at DND flyway.

Now, is it safe to transfer such huge amount of money with just a single guard? Questions are also raised over the standard operating procedure of the company. Also, it's time for a concrete policy from the government to safeguard the security of those responsible for security cash van money.

Premji, a senior security-in-charge in West Delhi said "The fault lies in the standard operating procedure (SOP). Usually, the bank sends two security guards, depending upon the cash and not the location – this is a major flaw. Suppose the cash is less than Rs 20 lakh, the bank may decide to send a single guard and if the cash amount transferred exceeds Rs 50 lakh they send two guards with the cash van irrespective of how vulnerable the location is."