NEW DELHI: Most mornings 62-year-old Baljit Singh Rana heads to office wearing a carefully ironed safari-suit. As he busies himself in a room filled with security documents and wireless handsets, he might miss his uniform, which he wore for 40-long years. But he has no time for idle thoughts, for he might be a retired police personnel, but his duties are far from over.
After Rana’s retirement, he was hired as a consultant for a year and was paid remuneration. But since September 9, 2014, he has been providing his services voluntarily. Apart from knowing Lutyens’ Delhi like the back of his hand, Rana is also well aware of the exact location of VVIPs staying in the area. He was asked by the Commissioner of Police to train two policemen for the same job he has been doing since 1976.
Rana managed around six companies and two platoons of paramilitary and Delhi police personnel. He works from his office from 8 am to 11 pm, and during emergencies he stays at his office for several days. “I am doing it as I love to do it. I have been born to do this,” he said. Sharing a secret of his job, he says, “Even if I deploy all the forces available for any emergency-like situation, I still keep two platoons in my hand. I can’t deploy them even if any police officer demands those platoons. I will give them the requisite numbers of force for the worst situation but not two platoons.”
He explains that he has seen a lot of blood in Lutyens’ Delhi. “From former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi’s assassination to Punjab militancy to Kashmir militancy, I have seen a lot. When the Parliament House was attacked in 2001, it took me four minutes to deploy forces around it. The two platoons, which I keep in reserve, rushed with me and then DCP MK Meena to the spot. They fired at the terrorists,” he recalls. He keeps two armed platoons in reserve for only worst situations. His senior claims that within five minutes, he can completely lock down Lutyens’ Delhi during any untoward incidents.
Rana joined the force in September 1, 1972 and was posted as a constable in the President House on June 6, 1973. After working there for almost three years, he was transferred to New Delhi district on September 1, 1976 and from then he has been managing deployment of forces for protests and VVIP routes.
“In those days, managing protests were our priorities and not VVIP movements. Carrying a heavy mobile wireless set on my back, I used to run to Boat Club at Rajpath from Parliament Street Police Station,” says Rana.