Noida: A day after the shootout at the premises of HCL's business process outsourcing division in Sector 58, Noida, concerns have been raised over the security arrangement in the BPO sector as a whole, where thousands of young women employees work 24x7 along with their male counterparts.
The fact that an employee of the firm managed to sneak in a gun inside the premises and brandish it at the in-house cafeteria without raising much alarm points to too much of openness and a wayward culture among the BPO employees.
The police later found as many as 13 live bullets in the .32 calibre countrymade pistol that was recovered from Karanjeet. "It was a high-quality weapon and had a magazine that enabled the shooter to fire repeatedly without having to load after every round," police say.
The incident, coming close on the heels of increasing reports of a growing drugs culture among the BPO employees, may raise the heckles of parents and guardians who may now have to think twice before letting their kids join this sector. As a whole, these incidents have also tarnished the image of this fast-growing sector as one where a Western culture is taking roots without much check.
"Security at many of these premises is a joke," claims an employee with a renowned BPO firm. "Anybody can take in anything he or she wants. The security guards are present only to fulfill the process requirement of a security presence. The bags and vehicles of employees are only looked at and not checked. It's not a surprise that the gun was brought in the HCL cafeteria by the accused," he says.
HCL authorities say all the employees usually undergo a metal-detector test before entering the premises. How Singh managed to sneak in a revolver is a question that HCL will find tough to answer.
Meanwhile, Noida Police have confirmed after preliminary investigations that a love triangle indeed seems to be the trigger for Thursday's shootout in which, Karanjeet Singh, a customer care executive, opened fire at his colleague Aamir Alam.
"The fight was over a woman who both liked," Karanjeet's co-workers claim. "All three worked in the same office as senior customer care executives."
"Alam and the woman employee had been romantically involved for the past six months. Recently, Karanjit felt attracted to the woman, leading to problems," a police officer investigating the case said.
The two men were sitting in the cafeteria with the girl, when an argument broke out between them. The argument soon turned into an ugly brawl after which Karanjeet whipped out a pistol and fired at Alam. Alam is a resident of Patna, but had shifted to Delhi because of his job. He lives in East Delhi's Lakshmi Nagar area.
"During interrogations, Karanjeet told the police that he had brought the weapon from Agra to kill Alam. We are further ascertaining the case," Senior Superintendent of Police, A Satish Ganesh, said. Karanjeet had surrendered to the police without a struggle after he shot Alam.
Karanjeet has been booked under the Arms Act and for attempt to murder. He refused to comment on the incident only saying, "I don't have to say anything about it. My lawyer will talk."
Alam, who received grievous bullet injuries on his shoulder, was immediately rushed to the nearby Fortis Hospital, where his condition was said to be critical. While the Noida Police were immediately informed about the incident, the administration asked the staff to leave the building and go home for the day.
Comments
0 comment