Saffron Guard a vigilante outfit, says police chief

Wed, Nov 4 05:41 AM

The Shiv Sena's attempt at portraying itself as crusaders for the safety of Mumbaikars by floating a security outfit named 'Bhagwa Guard' (Saffron Guard) has not gone down well at all with the city police. The move is seen as nothing but a "political stunt" and the outfit can be considered a vigilante group with no real authority, Mumbai Police Commissioner D Sivanandan told Newsline on Tuesday.

"I am strongly against such an outfit being created. The Bhagwa Guard will have no legal authority and is an extra-constitutional group. This can be viewed as a sort of vigilante outfit in the making," he said.

According to the Sena, the Bhagwa Guard is being created to protect morning walkers in the city. The decision comes close on the heels of a woman being killed in the Kalachowkie area by motorcycle-borne robbers who tried to snatch her jewellery. The Sena is all set to train youth drawn from its cadre for the new outfit and claims this will also provide them job opportunities.

Talking tough, the city police chief also warned of stern action against members of the outfit if they took the law into their own hands. "According to the law, every citizen has a right to defend oneself and others if attacked. However, there are certain limitations mentioned in the law regarding how far one can go while doing so. If the Bhagwa Guard lynches someone resulting in a death, we will book them for murder. Also, the members of the outfit cannot carry any weapons on them. If found with weapons, they will be punished," he said.

According to the Sena, the Bhagwa Guard will be a voluntary service of security guards. The force, which would be drawn from youth across the Sena's shakhas in Mumbai, would be trained in unarmed combat and self defence by an agency in its week-long training, beginning next week, to "neutralise" any attackers who tried to loot morning walkers.

The outfit would comprise youth aged between 20 and 35, depending on their physical fitness, and would begin from South Mumbai with 50 youths being trained initially. Sivanandan pointed out that along with the possibility of overstepping the law, the youths recruited for such an outfit could be a danger to themselves as well. "If they do not receive the proper training required for such a job, they may get harmed themselves while trying to catch someone. Besides, there are trained police all across the city to guard citizens, and we are making all-out efforts to nab the accused involved in the incident."

On October 28, Beena Dedhia was killed and her husband Jatin injured by two robbers when the couple was on a morning walk in the Kalachowkie area. According to Sivanandan, special teams have been drawn up to track down the murderers, and results could be expected soon. The Mumbai Police Crime Branch has also been roped in to nab the culprits. "We place the greatest importance to cracking such cases involving the loss of life. All-out efforts are being made, and maximum resources are being put on the job. All we require is a little bit of time. We will track down the culprits."

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