A thought leader and an action catalyzer rolled into one – Anil Puri is a rare combination of a visionary, and one who has mastered the art of strategic and tactical thinking to the core. He has been using this combination to seed new ideas and to lead them to their implementation on-ground. This has been a consistent feature of his career. He has rich experience of approximately 35 years in corporate in diverse domains & from functional managerial level to apex as the chairman of a corporate group. His acumen for handling crisis management has prompted him to share his exclusive and niche experiences. He is discussing the topic in three distinct parts in separate articles; Part 1 – Hostage situation & Role of the Corporate Security; Part 2 – Negotiation Skills; and finally Part 3 – How to survive an abduction or hostage situation. He will take you through realistically at ground zero in visualization and response matrix through series of these three articles. His third article in the series dwells on the survival techniques in an abduction or hostage situation. This will be the closing article in the series.   It’s really scary to think about being abducted or taken hostage, but knowing how you should handle the situation can help you feel calm and focused if it does happen. While the best thing you can do is to avoid an attack in the first place, if someone attempts to kidnap you, try to get away before they can incapacitate you. If you are taken into captivity, comply with your kidnappers and observe your surroundings until you can escape or be rescued. Fighting off an Attack Run away from someone who tries to take you if you can. If you’re ever in a situation where someone tries to abduct you, do anything you can to avoid going with them. Try to pull away from them, then run as fast as you can in the direction of the nearest people or building that you can see. Especially avoid getting into a vehicle, since it will be much harder for authorities to find you if your attacker drives you a long distance. If you’re taken hostage, the situation may unfold very quickly, and you might not have the opportunity to run. Yell to draw attention to the situation. If someone makes an attempt to kidnap you, start shouting right away, especially if you know there are people nearby. Even if the attackers manage to subdue you, keep yelling to try to get someone’s attention. If someone hears a shout and they see what’s happening, they may be able to help you before you’re taken away. Try yelling something like, ‘Help!’ or ‘Call the police!’ As a suggestion, yelling, ‘FIRE!!’ is your best bet. People are more likely to respond to fire, and this can summon help faster. At the very least, an onlooker can contact the authorities and let them know that an abduction has taken place. They may also provide critical details like the kidnapper’s physical appearance or the type of vehicle they’re driving. They may really try to get the license plate to see if the car was stolen or to see if it is really their car. Fight your attacker as hard as you can. It is really hard not to panic, but if you can stay calm and focused on survival, you may be able to fight off an attack if someone grabs you. Fight in any way you’re able, whether that’s hitting, kicking, biting, or scratching. As you do that, try to target your kidnapper’s eyes, nose, throat, or groin, as these are especially sensitive targets. As long as there’s still a chance you could break free and run, it’s worth fighting for. This is your best chance to escape, because the moment it is hectic, and there’s a chance someone will see what’s happening and intervene. Look for objects in your environment to use as weapons. As you’re fighting off your attacker, try to gather yourself enough to scan around you. Look for anything that’s close enough to grab that might give you an edge in the fight. If there’s nothing that you can use as an offensive weapon, check for anything you can use as a barrier between you and your attacker, like a chair or a table. For instance, even if your attacker knocks you down, you might spot a loose chunk of sidewalk that you can grab to hit them with. In your home, you might be able to grab a heavy vase or lamp, a fireplace poker, or even a large book. Dealing with Being Captured Follow your captors’ instructions once you are in captivity. If at any point it becomes clear that your captors have gained the upper hand, stop resisting right away and comply with any orders they give you. You’re more likely to be hurt or killed if you continue fighting after you’re overpowered such as if you’re being held by multiple people, put in restraints, or placed in a vehicle or other confined space. Once you’re abducted or taken hostage, it’s best to take a measured approach to escaping, rather than an impulsive one, so start evaluating the surroundings rather than fighting to get away. If you’re put into a vehicle while you’re conscious, try to pay attention to as much about the trip as you can, like how long the car travels without stopping, the direction of any turns, or any sounds you notice on the road. If you’re in the trunk of a car, look for a glow-in-thedark handle that you can pull to release yourself from the trunk. If this release cord isn’t present, try to kick out the tail lights and wave your hands to alert other motorists that you’re trapped inside. Stay calm and focused on survival. It might be really hard, but once you’re taken captive, try to dig deep within yourself to find your composure. Try to…

Anil Puri CMD, APS group A thought leader and an action catalyzer rolled into one – Anil Puri is a rare combination of a visionary, and one who has mastered the art of strategic and tactical thinking to the core. He has been using this combination to seed new ideas and to lead them to their implementation on-ground. This has been a consistent feature of his career. He has rich experience of approximately 35 years in corporate in diverse domains & from functional managerial level to apex as chairman of a corporate group. His acumen for handling crisis management has prompted him to share his exclusive and niche experiences. He will be discussing the topic in four distinct parts in separate articles; Part 1 – Hostage situation & ways to deal with hostage situation; Part 2 – Negotiation skills; Part 3 – How to survive an abduction or hostage situation, and finally in Part 4 – The role of corporate security. He will take you through realistically at ground zero in visualization and response matrix through series of these four articles. His second article illustrates at length the role of positive attitude in negotiation skills to counter hostage situation. Dynamics of Hostage Negotiation Hostage negotiation is all about psychology, and successful crisis negotiators are among the most skilled practical psychologists I’ve ever met. Think about it – in the typical hostage scenario, lives are at imminent risk of violent death at the hands of a depressed, suicidal, homicidal, delusional, drug fueled, or cold-blooded hostage-taker, often in the midst of a chaotic and uncontrolled workplace or family environment. Resolution of hostage crises may take hours or even days of incredibly focused and intense negotiation, and require the use of virtually every type of skilled communication strategy in the crisis intervention skill box. Although hostage situations can vary greatly based on the motivations of the hostage-taker and the exact circumstances surrounding the incident, there are some basic facts that apply to all hostage situations. The hostage-taker wants to obtain something as ransom. This can be as simple as money, personal safety or safe passage to another country, or it can involve complicated political goals. The target of the hostage-taker is not the hostage itself, it is some third party (a person, a company or a government) that can provide whatever the hostage-taker wants. The hostages are bargaining chips. They may have symbolic value (e.g., 1972 Munich Olympics, in which the target was the Israeli government and the hostages were Israeli athletes), but the hostages themselves could be anyone. Whether it is a barricaded crisis situation or negotiations with a bad actor holding hostages, the keys to success are the skills of the negotiator or intervener to effectively communicate. Little else matters if communications is not established, maintained and utilized in such a way that management of the instant situation becomes possible. Most negotiators think that they are effective communicators. Some are, many are not. Communications must be practiced over and over again to assure proficiency. This article provides the rudiments of the skills needed for success in the field. Hostage Crises: The statistics – The facts & fiction Fewer than 20 percent of law enforcement critical incidents deal with actual hostage taking, and most crises are successfully resolved without the loss of life. In fact, containment and negotiation strategies yield a 95 percent success rate in terms of resolving a hostage crisis without fatalities to either hostages or hostage-takers (HTs), which is a remarkable statistic for any form of lifesaving crisis intervention strategy. There are three especially dangerous periods during a hostage crisis. The first is the initial 15-45 minutes when confusion and panic are likely to be greatest. The second is during the surrender of the HTs, when strong emotions, ambivalence, and lack of coordination among HTs and crisis team members can cause an otherwise successful resolution to go bad. Finally, tactical assault to rescue the hostages carries the highest casualty rate, probably for two interrelated reasons. First, the very fact that tactical intervention is necessary indicates that all reasonable attempts to resolve the crisis by negotiation have failed, and that violence against the hostages has already taken place, or is imminent. Second, if a firefight ensues, the resulting panic and confusion may result in hostages being inadvertently killed or injured. Phases through which Hostage situations moves Initial phase: This phase is violent and brief and lasts as long as it takes for the hostage-takers to make their assault and subdue the hostages. The end of this phase is often marked by the presentation of the hostage-taker’s demands. Negotiation phase: At this point, law-enforcement officials are on the scene, and the demands have probably been received. This phase can last hours, days or months and could also be referred to as ‘the standoff phase.’ Physically, nothing about the situation changes greatly. The hostages and the hostage-takers stay in the same place. However, a lot is happening during this phase in terms of the relationships developing between everyone involved. The negotiator’s job boils down to manipulating those relationships in a way that results in a peaceful ending. Termination phase: This is the brief, sometimes violent final phase. This phase has one of three results – the hostage-takers surrender peacefully and are arrested, police assault the hostage-takers and kill or arrest them, or the hostage-takers’ demands are granted and they escape. The fate of the hostages does not necessarily depend on what happens during the termination phase. Even when the hostage-takers give up, they may kill hostages during the negotiations. Often, hostages are killed either accidentally by police or intentionally by their captors during an assault. There have even been cases in which the hostage-takers were granted their demands, but they killed the hostage anyway. Post-incident stage: In this the effects of the incident play themselves out. These effects can include changes in the status of the groups responsible, shifts in the relationships between world governments or increases in security. Negotiation &…

Govt seeks help of private security guards in coronavirus vaccination programme: G Kishan Reddy Private security guards may be added in the frontline workers list for getting early vaccination The Central Association of Private Security Industry (CAPSI) has organized its fifteenth edition of annual Security Leadership Summit 2020 on 17 December 2020 in association with Association of Private Detectives and Investigators (APDI), BW BUSINESSWORLD, SecurityLinkIndia, International Council for Industrial Security & Safety Management (ICISSM).  The private security industry has been observing the pandemic Covid19 and its roles in pandemic all through the year – it led the way in ensuring a completely safe and secure environment during this bad phase. Now that when the country is in the transition phase to a post-Covid19 era, private security agencies are still playing a pivotal role. This summit was a great forum to analyze the role of private security firms during pandemic. The government was given due credit for its endeavor and support during the pandemic. Inclusion of the private security services (PSS) in the ‘essential services’ list was hailed as a big boost for the industry. The summit also hailed the recent amendments in the PSARA Rules that go in favour of the industry to enable ease of doing business. People present there also hoped that the mechanism of GST levied on the services by the industry shall also be dealt by the central government the way the industry has been demanding. G Kishan Reddy, the Union Minister of State for Home, who was the Chief Guest of the occasion, said that as India eagerly awaits the launch of Coronavirus vaccine, the government and health agencies will take help of the 90 lakh private security guards across India in the roll out of massive vaccination drive. “It is not easy for the government, police or officials to distribute and administer Coronavirus vaccine to 130 crore people across the country. This is why private security industry will have a great role to play in this job. With their numerical strength  security guards can ensure wider and faster distribution of vaccine and ensure that every household is covered in the vaccination programme,” said Mr Reddy. He praised the security  industry for its yeoman service during the Corona pandemic prompting the government to cover the industry under the ‘essential services. “For, they have been playing a role everywhere – they worked as frontline warriors in the time of Corona pandemic at hospitals, banks, markets, institutions. This is why this industry is an important part of India’s security system and Home Ministry has been taking various steps to promote and strengthen it,” he stated. He also assured that the Home Ministry will take up with the Union Finance Ministry for relaxation in the GST regime for the private security industry. He stated the government was committed to make the private security industry meet global standards and promote ease of doing business in the industry. The fact is that the pandemic has impacted all and it severely affected the industries as well. This has resulted in unpredicted hardships for professionals across all fields. Nevertheless, the security industry of India has managed to remain steadfast through this all, and performed beyond the call of duty. It showcased its true potential and the government declared it as the essential service. The front line warriors of this industry set many great examples across India during the lock down. This summit honoured them and indeed presented Badge of Honour to the frontline Corona warriors including Mr. Reddy, Gen VK Singh, Minister of State for Road Transport and Highways, who was the Guest of Honour in the concluding session of the Summit, and other industry stalwarts, and commemorated their efforts. Vivek Bharadwaj, IAS, Joint Secretary, Police Modernization, MHA, who played a significant role in bringing ease of doing business environment in the industry was honoured with the ‘Ease of doing Business’ Award. Speaking at the event, Vivek Bhardwaj said that the Home Ministry would write to the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry to include private guards in the frontline workers list so that they could also be included in the first phase of the vaccination programme. Kunwar Vikram Singh, Chairman, CAPSI thanked the frontline warrior organisations for working on the ground to secure enterprises across the nation and therefore contributing to the nation-building efforts. This ensured a smooth and safe transition into a post-Covid world, He also thanked the Chief Guest for taking decisive and timely decisions during the height of the pandemic which resulted in confidence within the industry. He also put in a request that the GST levied on the services within the industry be duly dealt with. Another positive impact he mentioned was the collaboration between international security certification agencies and CAPSI which has enabled Indian security guards and companies to be able to operate or provide their services globally and make it possible to reach out to a larger audience. The chairman said that CAPSI has entered into tie ups and agreements with various global agencies to improve employability of private security guards globally. “We have tie ups with three international organisations. These will impart a forty hour training module to our guards to arm them with certification. With this, we  will help them get employment globally,” he added, “Indian private security guards are in great demand globally and this is the opportunity we need to grab.”