KARACHI, Nov 16: Four armed robbers accompanied by a security guard took away more than Rs1.6 million from a local bank branch in Gulbahar on Friday and damaged recording equipment in what appeared to be the latest in a set trend of robberies in recent days, exposing the security measures of banks which hold private security companies and police responsible for the rise in such activities.
A police official said Akbar, the security guard of the SPS Security company, who was deputed at the Gulbahar branch of the Allied Bank some two weeks ago, executed the whole robbery plan with the help of his armed accomplices.
“Initial findings suggest that they had all been in the branch since Thursday night and on Friday morning they started taking the staff hostage one by one as they reached the office,” said an official at the Gulbahar police station.
He said the robbers also damaged the closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras and other equipment installed in the branch to record daily activities so that no evidence of their identities and the robbery was left.
Though the Gulbahar police have initiated investigations following an FIR (68/2007) under Section 392 of the Pakistan Penal Code, the latest robbery brings to the fore a new trend in crime, putting a serious question mark over the security measures taken by the banks, the police’s investigative methods and the dubious role of security agencies.
“We have found some three major loopholes in the banks’ security during investigations,” said a senior police official of the central zone, which has witnessed a series of bank robberies in the last couple of months.
The official said that in all the three bank robberies he had been investigating, the robbers took away the whole CCTV system and its tapes to prevent their identities from being discovered, while no alternative system was installed anywhere to witness the robbery.
“Secondly, the security arrangements made by the private companies hired by the banks remained so exposed that the robbers first took the guards hostage before attempting the robbery,” he added.
He recalled that in the bank robbery at Jamshed Quarters where robbers looted Rs4.8 million, CCTV cameras were powered off so there was no recording available of the day’s activities. In Gulberg he said the robbers did not only take away Rs8 million in cash but also the CCTV system, leaving no trace for the investigation.
Passing the buck?
The robberies have sparked a controversy among the police, banks and private security companies, who hold each other responsible for the exposed and ineffective security system. Similarly, for several bank robberies there has been no major arrest witnessed during the last few months.
“We have asked the banks several times to make their security more effective but haven’t received a positive response from a single one,” said the Capital City Police Officer Azhar Ali Farooqi.
He said the bank branches never kept a record of recordings they made through CCTV cameras, neither were the recordings monitored daily to keep vigilant and mark suspicious characters visiting the banks.
“The banks are least bothered about the robberies, as they get back what they lose through insurance claims,” added the CCPO.
However, the banks did not agree with such notions. They claimed their security arrangements were up to the mark but they were not responsible to curb increasing crime in society, which was the police’s job.
“Saying that ineffective security arrangements obstruct smooth investigations is an absolutely wrong argument,” said Atif A. Bukhari, President of United Bank Limited. “We keep enhancing security arrangements but robbers are much smarter nowadays so they know how to strike and where to strike.”
He said the police should have the skills to properly investigate and arrest the culprits rather than putting the blame on the banks. “That’s what they get paid for. We can’t manage everything privately. And saying that there was no footage or CCTV system available and hence the investigations don’t move is no excuse,” he added.
The police also believe that since private security companies’ personnel have been involved in most of the robberies, their role is ambiguous.
“These companies are also responsible for the increase in such activities. So it’s not only the police which can control crime alone. Coordination and a sense of responsibility are needed from every stakeholder,” said Mr Farooqi.
But Major (retd) Muneer Ahmed, a senior member of the Private Security Companies’ Association of Pakistan claimed that most of the companies out of the total 170 have been performing their duties well considering the sensitivity of their services.
“I can’t deny the role of security guards in robberies,” he said. “But there are also some other issues which need to be addressed before reaching a conclusion. The banks want maximum service with minimum investment and it leads to the hiring of those companies whose employees are underpaid,” he said.
Secondly, Mr Ahmed claimed that the security guards had to perform their duties under the conditions provided by the banks, which were not always ideal considering the security concerns on the ground.
“If the branch wants the guard to stand outside the branch, he automatically becomes exposed and one man can’t resist six or seven armed robbers,” added Mr Ahmed.
