Few security companies have benefited as much from the surge of Sept. 11-related government contracts as Akal Securities, a New Mexico-based company controlled by American converts to a Sikh religious sect.

The company launched in 1980 with small contracts to protect grocery stores and bars and now has 10,000 employees who stand guard at federal courthouses in 40 states, Army bases, airports, U.S. embassies and federal immigration detention centers. It has won more than $3 billion in federal contracts since Sept. 11, 2001 and has become the largest courthouse security contractor in the country.