Not so long ago, it was only some government vehicles that were bullet-proof. But that’s not the case anymore. As crime rates soared through the last four years, the country’s underplayed industry of bullet-proofing cars got a new list of clientele — liquor barons, builders, real estate developers, industrialists, film stars, PSU heads, even MNC executives and of course, politicians.

And the humble ‘government’ Ambassadors, which formed a bulk of the market for this industry, gave way to more expensive models like Mitsubishi Pajeros, Scorpios, Monteros and Landcruisers. Besides domestic customers, the industry is also bagging deals from other countries.

Take the Sobtis in Jalandhar whose Laggar Industries conducts business with countries in “nine parts of the world”. For an industry that does not believe in overt advertising, armouring contracts for hundreds of vehicles from the likes of the Bhutan Royal Army and the Yemen government means quite something.

“We started the armouring of vehicles in 1989 for security agencies when Punjab was mired in militancy. In the last four years, there has been a 40 per cent increase in demand from the private sector. From bullet-proofing about 10-12 private cars in a year earlier, we now do that number in a month alone. Many more requests actually come in,” says the director of Laggar Industries which has a turnover of about Rs 125 crore per annum.

From the Punjab Chief Minister’s bus, the Laggar group has reached out far and wide. The firm has bullet-proofed 400 Toyota Hiluxs for the Royal Bhutan Army, Nissans for the Nepal government, Landcruisers for the Yemen government and vehicles for Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Kuwait,

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