Eves to eavesdrop during C'wealth Games

An estimated 5,000 trained private security girls are likely to provide intelligence cover to the 2010 Commonwealth Games, one of the biggest sporting events that India will host after the 1982 Asiad Games.

The Commonwealth Games venues may, apart from sportsmen and women, teem with security girls who are likely to  act as “under-cover agents”, placed at strategic points as “ushers” and “guides”. The private eyes will cover all entry and exit points of stadia, as also nearby buildings, halls, rooms, restaurants and other facilities. The ingenuous move is still in the works, though a few meetings between the private security agencies, the Union Home and the Sports ministries have taken place.

Speaking to Deccan Herald, Central Association of Private Security Industry national chairman Kunwar Vikram Singh, who also heads the Association of Private Detectives and Investigators, said that training (for the security girls) has been on for the past six months.

“They will comprise women from all linguistic backgrounds, and with suave and comely personalities who will be responsible for a dual preemptive and protective role,” said Singh, a former Intelligence Bureau officer who was appointed a security consultant for the 1982 Asiad by Indira Gandhi.

While CCTVs will keep a watch on the movements of people entering stadia, the security girls will play an undercover role to snoop on conversations around them. They have been instructed to pick up interesting nuggets of conversations that will help the authorities nip any mischevious activity in the bud.

Singh believes that deploying women for under-cover assignments is nothing new for private security agencies. “They have played important roles during major events in Delhi,” Singh said. Employing women for delicate tasks has paid rich dividends since they arouse little suspicion, he added.