Security a joke at bus depots

After police investigations show Bakery blast accused Baig got off at city bus depot with bomb in bag, MiD DAY conducts a check and finds police presence thin at bus stations, awareness about what to do with unclaimed baggage low
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Police investigations indicate German Bakery blast accused Mirza Himayat Baig travelled to the city by bus, alighting at the Shivaji Nagar depot with a bomb in his bag.
In light of this finding, MiD DAY decided to take a look at the security arrangements at major bus depots in the city.

The verdict is not a happy one. Security arrangements were virtually non-existent at depots; so deplorable was the state of affairs that commuters would not be able to do much else than pray in case of an untoward incident.
Here is the depot-by-depot account of what we found.

Pune station bus stand
Time: 3.30 pm
Reporters: Alifiya Khan and Preeti Agarwal
What we saw: One of our reporters entered the bus station carrying a big brown leather bag and sat in the passengers' waiting area.u00a0

The abandoned bag at Pune Station bus stand.

After five minutes, the reporter casually walked away, leaving the bag behind. The other reporter waited 15 minutes to see what would happen.
The bag lay there without anyone noticing it. We then repeated the same exercise outside the guard's cabin in the waiting area. After about 15 minutes, a woman constable noticed the bag and came out of her cubicle.
But, instead of making enquiries about the bag or informing her seniors, she tried to open it. When she was unable to do so, she took her baton and started prodding the bag with it.
This, despite the fact that a notice pasted on a wall a few metres away saying no unattended bags should be opened or moved.

The Other Side

Staffers at the bus stand said that the station in-charge had gone to visit an accident site and that the bus stand came under the supervision of the depot manager at Shivaji Nagar, who could comment on the issue.

Shivaji Nagar Bus Stand
Time: 5 pm
Reporters: Alifiya Khan and Simmi Sharma
What we saw: At the Shivaji Nagar bus stand, we left a bag at the passenger section, which was right in front of the ticket and enquiry counter. For 10 minutes, no one noticed it.

A constable enquires about the abandoned bag at Shivaji Nagar bus stand.

Finally, a commuter noticed the abandoned bag and started speaking about it to a fellow commuter. But as time passed, the two did not take any action, only keeping a watch over it.
We then repeated the exercise at the Pune-Nashik ticket counter, which was a more deserted than the main area.
Here we had a pleasant surprise; as soon as we had kept the bag there, a police officer walked up to it and started enquiring about it.

Swargate bus stand
Time: 6.15 pm
Reporters: Preeti Agarwal and Simmi Sharma
What we saw: We left a bag in the waiting area. For more than 25 minutes the bag lay unattended, with neither policemen nor commuters noticing or approach it.

The bag at Swargate bus stand lay unnoticed for 25 minutes.

We finally gave up and approached the policemen posted here for security, and questioned them about the careless attitude towards unattended baggage.
Police constable Vidyadhar Gangurde replied that it was not possible to keep a tab on all bags as the station was a huge area.

The Other Side

When asked about security arrangements, depot manager Vijay Diwate said they alert passengers every 15 minutes by asking them to report any unclaimed and unidentified objects.
"I had requested for more security and was allotted 12 policemen; of them only four have reported for duty," he said.

Other Security Lapses

> At all the bus stations, not more than two constables were present
> The constables were found simply sitting in a cabin without bothering to check
any passengers.
> No commuters or bags were frisked at entry and exit points
> There were no CCTV cameras or metal frame detectors and no record was kept of anyone who entered the bus stands