KARACHI: For the 60 locker holders of the vault service that was operated by a private bank employees’ foundation and was looted on Sunday, the worst appears yet to come because police investigators do not see the crime as an act of ‘bank robbery’, while the bank management has not consulted the locker holders so far and regulations of the State Bank of Pakistan do not bind the operations with an insurance cover, it emerged on Monday.

The officials at the special investigation unit of police, tasked with the investigation of bank robberies and acts of terrorism, after an hours-long exercise — interaction with the bank management, the area police and the officials of MCB Employees Foundation that ran the Soldier Bazaar vault service — declared the crime as a regular robbery case and not a bank heist.

“It’s not bank robbery in fact,” said Asghar Usman of the SIU. “We have thoroughly studied the situation, talked to the people concerned and also taken into account the feedback of our higher authorities and arrived at the conclusion that it’s not a bank robbery. The investigation into this particular would be treated as a regular one and conducted by the Soldier Bazaar police station.”

While he was sure that the value of the objects taken away by the bandits was worth ‘in millions’ if the claims of the locker holders were true, the investigators at the Soldier Bazaar police station believe it would take time to ascertain the exact value of the looted items after which they would register an FIR of the robbery.

“The police are interviewing the locker holders one by one and checking documentary proof. The lockers service management has also been assisting us while sorting out technical banking issues and verifying claims of the locker holders,” said DSP Zahid Hussain, the sub-divisional police officer of the area.

Some half a dozen armed robbers seized a lone security guard of a private bank in Soldier Bazaar on Saturday night, broke in the facility and broke all 60 lockers carrying cash, jewellery and property documents, etc, before leaving the place on Sunday morning after eight-hour-long robbery. The audacious burglary attracted strong protest from locker holders who later during the day staged a protest demonstration outside the facility of the MCB Bank and demanded recovery of their assets.

The investigators and administration of the vault service were busy collecting information from the locker holders to ascertain the exact value of the assets including cash, jewellery, property, bonds or other important documents and other valuables, which people preferred to keep in lockers for safety.

But even if the exact value of their looted items is ascertained what lies ahead for the 60 locker holders appears to be a mystery as they had not heard a word from the MCB Bank management on the issue so far, while the employees’ foundation did not confirm to them the insurance status of their looted items.

Citing central bank’s regulations for the insurance cover for the vault service, a source said: “The service is actually operated by the bank employees’ foundation and not by the bank. There are certain guidelines from the State Bank for the vault service but for this kind of service — which is operated by the employees body — it’s subject of the bank’s board of directors and management.”

The source said the SBP could take up the issue if the consumers approached it with a complaint. “There is a proper consumer protection unit of the State Bank which solely addresses consumer-related issues. If any consumer believes that the central bank has a role to play in this situation he or she can approach it for the State Bank’s response,” he added.

When approached, the spokesperson for the MCB Bank was not available to comment.