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KARACHI: At least 12 gangs are actively involved in bank robberies in the metropolis, said Additional IG Karachi Ghulam Shabbir Shaikh on Saturday.
“These mainly target local banks instead of foreign banks due to inadequate security measures,” he said while addressing a press briefing at Central Police Office (CPO).
He said that some very important leads have been traced which would help in a major crackdown on bank robbers and soon these robberies will be contained to a significant level.
He said that on Nov 24, the police arrested two robbers in a failed bid to loot a bank in Aziz Bhatti police jurisdiction.
The robbers were arrested in injured condition after encounter with police and have been identified as Umar Zaman Afridi and Sharif Khan Afridi.
“During interrogation the accused disclosed involvement in 25 to 30 cases mainly of bank robberies,” Shaikh said and added that both the accused hail from Kohat.
He said that the accused have also given them useful information about other members of their gang members who have apparently vanished in the non-accessible territories of Kohat region. However, Kohat police has been approached for assistance.
The Additional IG Karachi said that during interrogation the police found no clue of the association of accused with any militant group but said its chances could not be ruled out as they were on 14-day police remand.
The AIGP said that mostly the bank robberies take place due to negligence of the staff and collaboration of private security guards who are recruited without following the given Standard Operational Procedures (SOPs) laid down for their verification.
“The private security concerns never bother to get the relevant personal information given by the guards verified from the local police who in turn are supposed to check their background from his native place of residence.
He questioned that what could we expect from private personnel guarding a bank with only Rs 5,000/- monthly salary and prolonged duty hours.
Shaikh said that in the surveys conducted by specially assigned units of the police, it was discovered that the bank branches have no proper security system and even no pickets inside the bank as was practiced in the past.
Moreover, the CCTVs were just eyewash and not worthy enough to grab videos of the criminal activity while robbers take away all the records easily.
The AIG Karachi said that he will be holding a meeting with bankers very soon to ask them through the Central Bank that they should adopt latest security system of video cameras with the computerised systems also established at bank head office.
“We have also proposed them to give access to their CCTV with instant recording facility at the nearby police station,” he maintained.
In addition, he said that the SHOs will also be bound to enhance patrolling around banks and conduct snap checking in bank branches to get first hand knowledge about the guards and other movements in the bank branch.
