Bomb Disposal Squads

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When Rakesh Yadav volunteered to join the Ahmedabad Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) in 1995, he was aware of the high-risk assignment that he was taking up. His mother was dead against him joining the squad, but Yadav knew that he did not want to be just another run-of-the mill constable.

In the last 13-years, Yadav - now 42 and the head of the seven-member Ahmedabad BDS - has defused countless bombs. On Sunday, a day after the serial blasts rocked Ahmedabad, he was back at work. Dressed in his 35 kg protective bomb suit, he successfully defused a live bomb placed inside a dustbin in the Hatkseshwar circle area of Ahmedabad.

Though considered an expert in handling and neutralising explosives, Yadav confesses that every time he goes on a mission, he takes a moment to think of his family - his three children, wife and mother - and pray to God for his safe return. He has almost conquered fear now, he says, but he knows that a small mistake can cost him his life.

In the bloody aftermath of the serial blasts in Bangalore, Surat, Ahmedabad and Delhi the entire country being put on a state of high alert against terrorist strikes, Yadav and his ilk are working overtime to protect people from bomb blasts. They check out every threat call, every unclaimed bag, and when they find some deadly object packed with explosives, it is they who put their lives on the line to try and neutralise the bomb. The country, it would appear, owes a lot to men like Yadav.

But do bomb disposal personnel get the recognition and reward that is due to them? Yadav, who after years of service is still languishing in the rank of a head constable, does not think so. “During training we were promised many things - extra allowance, risk allowance, attractive salaries and promotion. But we have not got any of this,” he says.

Indeed, BDS personnel around the country say that despite the dangerous nature of their job, they receive almost no special incentives or extra compensation. Most say that apart from insurance, they enjoy little or no benefits. And even the insurance is often not enough.

In September 2006, Utpal Bhakta, a BDS member of the West Bengal police, lost his life while defusing a bomb in the Naxal-infested area of Lalgarh in West Midnapore. The insurance was paltry but because he had died in a designated Naxal area, his family received an ex-gratia payment of Rs 10 lakh in accordance with a state government directive.

But families of other bomb disposal personnel who have died or been injured in the line of duty have had to be content with far less. In 2002, three members of the Ahmedabad BDS were severely injured while dismantling tiffin bombs in Manipur village near Ahmedabad during the post-Godhra riots. The injured were given Rs 15,000 each from the police welfare fund. The squad was shocked to learn that they did not even have any insurance cover.

“The system of providing insurance started only after the 2002 incident,” reveals Yadav. “Now we have been told that we are covered by group insurance - whatever that means.” The group insurance sum for the Ahmedabad BDS happens to be Rs 20 lakh.

Most bomb disposal personnel in India undergo a six-week training course at the National Security Guards training centre at Manesar, Haryana, followed by other refresher courses such as the one at the Indo-Tibetan Border Force Academy, Mussoorie. The candidates selected have to clear a written test and a medical examination as well, meant to test if they have the nerves of steel required to dismantle bombs.

But despite the training, facing a live bomb is never a cakewalk. Sergeant Sujoy Mondal, 38, a bomb technician with the Kolkata Police, confesses that even after a decade in the squad his heart still misses a beat each time he approaches a suspected explosive device. “I would be lying to you if I said that I am not scared,” says Mondal.

At the Calcutta Police Training School, which is housed in a colonial-era building, the squad is always prepared to take off at a “moment’s notice”, says Somen Ghosh, officer in charge, BDS, Kolkata Police, who heads a 22-member team. Most of the calls turn out to be hoaxes. “But we treat all calls seriously and for us every suspicious object is a bomb until proven otherwise. Hence the drill remains the same,” says Mondal.

If BDS members of the Kolkata Police do not encounter bombs too often, those belonging to the West Bengal Police’s Criminal Investigation Department (CID) are not so lucky. The 20-member squad is responsible for bomb disposal in almost the whole of West Bengal.

This includes the Naxal strongholds. “Our teams have to go deep into the jungles to defuse landmines and other improvised explosive devices, and sometimes even face ambushes by militants,” says S N Gupta, special inspector general, CID, West Bengal Police.

But despite the enormous risks they take, these bomb disposal personnel do not get any extra perks or privileges. Most bomb disposal squads are also severely understaffed. For example, Surat, where as many as 26 live bombs were discovered and defused, has just a one-man bomb disposal unit. A bomb disposal team from Rajkot was sent to Surat to handle the crisis. “The number of trained men is inadequate. This also means that BDS personnel are severely overworked,” says S Srinivas (name changed) who served as deputy commissioner of police, Karnataka intelligence, to which the state’s bomb disposal squad reports.

But though there is a severe manpower crunch in bomb disposal squads around the country, India’s security establishment does not seem to skimp on sophisticated bomb disposal equipment. The Kolkata Police BDS, for instance, has an almirah full of mostly imported devices like infrared cameras, night vision goggles, bomb vapour detectors and letter bomb detectors. New arrivals include real time viewing systems that act like x-ray machines.

BDS personnel find it ironical that though the country has the money to import expensive equipment, the funds dry up when it comes to giving them adequate remuneration. “Even a police driver is well paid compared to a member of the bomb disposal squad!” exclaims Yadav.

In 1998, Yadav displayed rare courage when a live bomb was detected inside Natraj cinema hall in Ahmedabad. He put on his protective suit, wrapped the bomb in a blanket and brought it out of the cinema hall. The then police commissioner of Ahmedabad promised Yadav a cash reward of Rs 1 lakh for his spectacular rescue act. Ten years later, Yadav is still waiting for that reward.

The shabby treatment meted out to BDS personnel is one reason why a transfer to a bomb disposal squad is often regarded as a punishment posting. Yadav does not want a transfer. Despite the raw deal that he has got, he likes his high-risk job. And he gets a stab of happiness when his three children - Lucky, 15, Jagat, 12, and Navin 8 - see his exploits on television and beam with pride.

It’s probably the one thing that keeps him going in a society that exploits his heroism and gives him nothing in return. INAV