Click to play videoNew Delhi: Companies that supply bulletproof jackets and cars to India's security forces are supplying them to the mafia and criminals too, clearly compromising the lives of India's security personnel, a CNN-IBN Special Investigation has revealed.
This apart, there are many companies which have been producing bulletproof steel without the mandatory clearance from the Union Home Ministry.
Sandeep Sobti's Laggar Industries is one such company which makes bulletproof steel illegally.
When a CNN-IBN reporter approached them posing as a gangster, they readily agreed to sell bulletproof cars to him without a second thought.
The CNN-IBN reporter was told that a car that Sobti had bulletproofed for UP mafia don Munna Bajrangi, which was later confiscated by the police, is now mysteriously back with Sobti.
And what's more, the car is up for sale.
Munna Bajrangi had evaded the law thanks to bulletproof cars and jackets provided by the Sobtis.
CNN-IBN: "Jo gari Munna Bajrangi ki hai, woh bhi bikne ko taiyyar hai?" (Is the car that once belonged to Munna Bajrangi also up for sale?)
Sandeep Sobti: "Bilkul bik rahi hai." (Yes, it is up for sale.)
CNN-IBN: "Woh gari theek ho toh hum le len?" (Should we buy that if it is in good condition?)
Sandeep Sobti: "Bilkul, barhiya hai. Koi problem nahin hai. Koi chinta nahin hai. Aap nishchint ho kar le leejiye unki gari." (Why not? There is no problem at all. No worry. You can safely buy it.)
CNN-IBN: "Kitne ki milegi gaadi?" (For how much can I buy the car?)
Sanchit Sobti: "Total 15 lakh ki gari padegi aapko." (It will cost you Rs 15 lakh.)
The Sobtis seem to be acting against national interest, in complete violation of policy guidelines issued by the Union Home Ministry for industries making protective gears.
The MHA guidelines say bulletproof vehicles and jackets should be only for security forces and individuals under genuine threat and they should not be made available to terrorists, criminals and antisocial elements.
Bulletproof steel can be made only under a Home Ministry license, which the Sobtis do not have.
Yet, people like Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh and former Union minister Sahib Singh Verma are among Sobti's customers.
And politicians with criminal records, like Mukhtar Ansari, are the big buyers.
Sanchit Sobti: "Ansari group aur unke opponent, jinki exchange of fire hui thi, dono groups ke paas hamaari gaariyan hain. Woh kahte rahe paanch usko di hain. To mere ko bhi six do." (The Ansari Group and their opponents, who engaged themselves in an exchange of fire recently, both the groups have cars supplied by us. They came and told us that since we have give five to one group, they should get six.)
The black market of protective gear today poses a grave threat to national security.
Security experts point to the unimaginable consequences if these gears were to fall in the hands of, say, the Parliament attackers.
Had the attackers come in bulletproof cars, wearing bullet-proof jackets, who knows how far they could have gone.
Sadly, however, the lawmakers inside Parliament have yet to grasp the danger of this black market.
(With inputs from Sudesh Bhatt)
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