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Post attack on Saif Ali Khan, new celeb homes targeted: What's the reason behind rising intrusions? Experts speak
HT City talks to Yusuf Ibrahim, Ronit Roy, who both head their security agencies, actor Kushal Tandon on the rise in cases of break-ins into celeb houses.
The rising instances of break-ins into star homes have surely been raising eyebrows and concern. Days ago, a man allegedly trespassed into a residential complex in Mumbai’s Pali Hill area — home to celebrities like actors Kriti Sanon, Jaaved Jaaferi, and cricketer KL Rahul. The intruder reportedly damaged the society’s elevator and made objectionable gestures at the camera.
While one would expect celebrity houses to be heavily guarded considering their public figure status, recent incidents suggest otherwise. Earlier this year, the nation was left shocked when an intruder stabbed actor Saif Ali Khan in his Mumbai residence. In another alarming breach, a female fan was arrested for trespassing on Aditya Roy Kapur’s Mumbai residence in May.
‘SOCIETIES DON’T PAY GUARDS WELL’
When we spoke to people who have been long trusted with celebrity security, they point out various reasons for a spike in such cases. Yusuf Ibrahim, who has managed security for A-listers like actors Shah Rukh Khan and Alia Bhatt, reasons, “The first thing people of a society talk about is budget, when you talk to them about security. Most of the these guards are people coming to Mumbai to work from other states. Mumbai’s expenses are quite high. Do you know how much these guards earn? They are paid ₹15,000 on an average to work for 12 hours a day, seven days a week. There’s no off. To make more money, these guys start working double shifts. That money can feed them and their family for a week. Even for this, the society people, chairman say ‘we don’t have budget for increasing a shift’s fee to ₹20,000’.”
Also read: Intruders smash CCTV cams, steal valuables from Sangeeta Bijlani’s Lonavla farmhouse
The working hours, Yusuf continues, play a big role in such mishaps taking place, “A person wakes up, gets ready, travels, works, then goes back home to sleep. The guard gets no proper rest as they want to do double shifts. And therefore, at crucial hours, a guard might catch a nap. Which is when such incidents can happen. I have been pointing this out for years. Guards need to be treated as humans, but some people downgrade them. Zara sa gate kholne mein time lag jaata hai toh gaali dena shuru kar dete hain. Kya woh washroom bhi nahi jaa sakte?”
‘BASIC SECURITY MEASURES MISSING’
What about the fact that walking into a star’s house appears so easy? The incident with Saif had already raised serious red flags, and actor Ronit Roy pointed out the same in a recent podcast. He revealed that when his security agency was brought in to enhance security at Saif’s residence, he noticed several basic safety measures were missing.
Talking to us, Ronit further says, “If anybody has entered your home surreptitiously, or barged in, that means your security is lax. There are three levels of security- most important being green level, when you have grills on your windows and your windows are locked, your front door is double locked and you’re inside your house. That means all ingress and egress is stopped. I have done recce of the houses some celebrities and very high net worth individuals live in. They have balconies and sliding windows, which don’t even shut properly. Because they give preference to aesthetics more than safety. Security is not rocket science.”
He adds that celebrity houses often have the basic chatkani (tower bolt) not installed on their doors, “Then they have locks where it’s the same handle inside and outside. Anybody can open it from outside. When a celebrity is out of town, you must take human error into account on the part of the guards. People think they have CCTV cameras installed for security... but those are for after something happens, not preventing it. Who is monitoring your cameras?”
KUSHAL’S EXPERIENCE
Actor Kushal Tandon had a tense encounter recently with a female fan who entered his house for a selfie with him. Talk to him about it and he tells us, “I live in a very secure building in Mumbai, they have proper security, there’s the main gate, the lobby, names of guests are written first. When this incident happened, my house’s intercom was under repair so there could not be that communication with the security when this girl came and started acting pricey. So even they thought I would get upset they stopped a guest of mine. Nobody is allowed though until I or my family member allow them. My mother told me my friend is waiting in the living room, and when I saw her I immediately asked her to leave. She asked for a photograph, I had to decline, then she asked me to shake her hand which I did, and gave her water. Such situations can easily go very wrong and very fast. As a celebrity, such situations are scary as I live with my family. But, you have to smile and treat it as part and parcel of the game.”
