Soumya Menon/Newindpress

Bangalore, Nov 17: One of the reasons why Bangalore is vulnerable to terror strikes, according to National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) member K M Singh, is that the security guards, who are manning many MNC companies and IT firms are not properly trained to deal with situations like terror strikes.

“Six years ago, a police verification for trained security guards cost Rs 50 and today it costs Rs 3,000 and even training cost has also gone up. Many of them do not have the money and they get unauthorised certificates, which are not authentic,” he said.

Col Arun Dhar, a retired army officer, too feels that there are many loopholes in the system. The State Police Intelligence Wing, according to him, has ignored many important clues, which they got during threat analysis done after IISc attack in December 2005.

Col Dhar said the City Police have not tried out their mechanisms in an effective manner.

“If a bomb blast occurs in a public place, for example, on Infantry Road, in front of the Police Commissioner’s office, have the city police formulated plans to control or divert traffic, to prevent any further disaster? Evacuating people from a crime scene is not enough, there have to be methods to bring the situation under control.”

Dhar said that small bits of information are vital and have to be put together.

“An incident of an autorickshaw driver lodging a complaint with the police about three men, who were suspiciously roaming the city and had spent huge amount to do so, was a major indication to the survey that terrorists carry on in Bangalore,” he said.