Suspended are five police officers who were accompanying Sylvester.

AHMEDABAD: Diwali sets off a surge in business for traders and businesspersons and is a busy period for angadia firms, which deliver valuables worth crores in major trading centers such as Ahmedabad, Surat and Mumbai. The period is the favourite hunting season for robbers because the volume and value of targets rise dramatically. The city police have registered a number of complaints in the previous years around Diwali. This year, the city police have already recorded at least seven robberies and robbery attempts. Police have, therefore, decided to provide security cover to angadia firm employees and to educate them to thwart future attacks. Earlier this week, Ajay Tomar, joint commissioner of police, Sector I, held a meeting with angadia operators in the city and discussed various security measures. “We scheduled the meeting in the wake of recent attacks on angadia firm offices and employees and have requested the firms to look into security arrangements,” said Tomar. “We discussed ways to verify the identity of couriers, and the need to install CCTV cameras in and around the firm premises.” Tomar said that the police control room van deployed around Kalupur railway station would accompany angadia employees up to the station. The same procedure would be followed on their return. asWe have asked angadia employees to move in small groups rather than alone and to keep changing the timings of their journey to avoid becoming easy targets, “Tomar said. Tomar said that angadia firms would not be asked about the value of stock but packages might be inspected if officials on duty find anything suspicious. “The pilot project will start within a week,” he said. “The success will then be reviewed.” So far, no firm has issued identity cards for employees, but we have advised that measure to effect quick identification.