Bangalore: Ever since the murder of a woman call centre employee in December, BPOs and travel agencies have been frantically getting "police verification" for drivers of vehicles transporting the employees.

Security conscious companies have been forwarding details of their employees to the police and also asking the drivers to produce certificates from the police. In the case of multinational companies in the IT sector, the security perceptions have sharpened after the terrorist attack at the Indian Institute of Science here. The city police then said high-tech firms who have made Bangalore a regional hub, may be the next targets.

The police are not unhappy; the Home Department has fixed Rs. 6,000 as fees for police verification, steeply up from Rs. 50 some years ago, when it was sought to be increased to Rs. 250. This involves a check on a person's family background, marital status, previous criminal cases, if any, and how long he or she has been staying at the place of residence given. Sometimes, the antecedents have to be checked across two or three cities where a person was employed earlier. Not only the IT companies, even other industries and garment factories have been coming for verifying the background of their employees, the police say. While the police verification certificate may be a revenue earner for the police, they question why it is needed in all cases. It should be enough if the antecedents of those in sensitive positions, where they handle cash transactions or are entrusted with vital information vulnerable to industrial espionage, are checked, the police feel.

The fact remains that many major corporates, especially the multinationals, rely more on private investigating agencies to check the background of their employees.

Many such agencies charge considerably more than the police, but have the resources to probe more deeply and have access to a larger database, including those with their branches in other States and cities. Even after that process, many managements do not feel reassured till a certificate from the police is also obtained. They also feel secure in the knowledge that the police have all details about the employees, including photographs, in case something goes wrong later.

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