Sunday 26 August 2007

THE NAVHIND CRIMES (ONCE AGAIN)

For you guys… a masterpiece by a The Navhind Times’ reporter (looks like it's been filed by the khaki darling Jamaluddin Sheikh). Darling… cause he is one the most prolific, but well meaninged sucker for stories planted by the cops and foisted onto the people of Goa. Want any pro cop story planted… Catch hold of Jamal is the mantra. He keeps The Navhind Times' long standing reputation of how-bad-can-reportage-actually-get alive and going.
Here’s a typically insipid and error ridden report which appeared on a Monday. And this story was released on a Sunday, which meant no one was around to give it a check. Even the usual cursory one. Guys... any youngsters reading this story, there's a lesson for you here. Look at it closely. And never... never file a
story like this...

http://www.navhindtimes.com/articles.php?Story_ID=082011
Keeping a watch on thieving and sleeping watchmen
NT Staff Reporter
Panaji, Aug 19 With there being rise (there being? What… which era are we in? 1800s? And still where’s the ‘a’. How can the sub not get this?) in number (the ‘a’ missing again after ‘in’) of theft cases in the state, most of the people, including various business houses and housing societies (now how do people include business houses and housing societies? One would think the latter two would include ‘people’), have been forced to employ security personnel to keep a watch on their properties. (Ok the sucker punch should follow now maybe para 2… Brace yourself for a few words of crudely rephrased Koranic wisdom too)
However, this move does not guarantee safety of one’s property as it has been found out that many of the security personnel themselves have been found to be involved in various cases of theft and other criminal activity, the exception being the ex-servicemen who not only perform their duties diligently but are also honest (ok… ex armed force folks have the mercies of the reporter here. And how does he justify this? Hey he doesn’t even need to. Have pen, he will write)
According to the information provided by a senior police officer, most of the security personnel hail from outside the state and that they were being employed by security agencies without verification of antecedents, etc, so as to meet the growing demands. (Why wouldn’t a senior police officer allow himself to be quoted here? Cant figure this one out. Really… is this an earth-shattering disclosure?)
The police officer said that many a times the security personnel have been found sleeping while on duty and the police enquiries have revealed that some of the security personnel were working for more than one agency and as such can’t be attentive all the time and tend to sleep while on duty (Whoops... ‘the’ security personnel? Which ones? When you put in the article ‘the’, you are dealing with specifications aren’t you?)
The officer further said that the security guards tend to sleep while on duty and are not awakened by the sound of vehicles stopping near them (how sad can this get? ‘Are not awakened by the sound of vehicles?’ Poor… very poor) and they have to be woken up from deep sleep many a time. He also said that to ensure that the security personnel are attentive and do not sleep while on duty the police have been taking away their chairs. (We are sure this is an aside, but poor Jamal takes everything so seriously)
He also said that police enquiries have revealed that these security personnel do not have any formal training into security aspects and that they are just employed by the agencies because they have to meet the public demand.
With there being no (what’s with this ‘there being’? obsession) specific check on the employment of people as security personnel, the security agencies prefer to appoint untrained personnel as they can be hired for a lesser salary compared to trained personnel like ex-servicemen.
Recently a security personnel employed at an ATM centre duped an elderly person of Rs 65,000 with the help of his colleague. The elderly person had sought the help of the security guard at the centre in withdrawing money and forgot to take back his card.
The security guard hailing from Orissa in association with his colleague withdrew the amount and sent part of it by money order to his home and kept rest with him. Bur (But…) luck did not favour him as the old man came back to the ATM centre and made enquiries about his card and failing to find it verified his bank balance. The old man was shocked to find that Rs 65,000 were withdrawn from his account, he then lodged a police complaint and subsequent enquires revealed that the watch personnel (watch man has been transformed as what ‘watch personnel’… use the dictionary more judiciously fellows) was involved in the crime and was arrested. His associate in crime is still absconding.
Similarly police found that watchmen employed at a construction site were involved in theft of centering plates at the site. It was found that a particular motorcycle was always found at the site and police enquiry revealed that it was that of a security supervisor who had given it to one of the security personnel of the agency.
The police managed to nab the security guard and on interrogation found that six others were involved in theft of centering plates from the construction site. Four of them, including one who had been recently employed as a driver by a satellite news channel, were arrested. There are various other instances of watchmen being involved in theft cases, said the police officer. (Doesn’t Arun Sinha want any quotes in his stories these days? Once he was obsessed with them, unless of course he was writing a vengeful piece aimed at tarnishing one of his 'enemys' under a pseudonym)

4 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

pen pricks:... "Brace yourself for a few words of crudely rephrased Koranic wisdom too"...

Could not find them?

27 August 2007 at 09:15  
Blogger Pen Pricks said...

Hey... we couldn't find it too... looks like J favoured 'exception' rather than the 'rule' this time.

27 August 2007 at 12:40  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

hey pricks... very unfair. u name the poor reporters here but just shy away whenever it comes to the "big fish" (ref to ur earlier post on delhi trips of journos being sponsored). so far u just guess whether so-n-so wud have written the story or not. but still name them. follow an unbiased policy... no? or maybe just nuke them all... as in name them... the journos who took that trip.

29 August 2007 at 19:46  
Blogger Pen Pricks said...

sorry man... on written stuff, we have no issues naming folk. not the other way round...

29 August 2007 at 23:54  

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