The Rs9.1 million heist at a United Bank branch in Peshawar on Feb 16 came just two weeks after Rawalpindi police nabbed three members of a large ring of bank robbers on Feb 7.

Three robbers identified as Raza Khan, Feeroz Shah and Waseem Haroon had admitted to their involvement in 23 bank robberies in various cities of Punjab and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (KP) including Rawalpindi, Islamabad, Lahore, Peshawar and Faisalabad. Some of them were high-profile robberies, such as June 23, 2011 heist at Alfalah Bank branch in sector I-11/4 in which the dacoits walked away with Rs2 million.

Later investigations also revealed far more damning details: all the five gangs were affiliated with notorious Atique gang of Mardan and Israr gang of Kohat, and that their more than 22 accomplices were still at large. This did not bode well for the administrations of the twin cities who were left stunned by the string of robberies last year.

A survey of local banks conducted by Industrial Area police and city administration revealed that there were numerous loopholes in security systems and in this regard, a series of rules and recommendations were introduced.

For instance, the survey revealed that most banks deployed only two security guards – one inside the bank and the other was posted outside. The guard stationed inside the bank was mostly found to be preoccupied with other things instead of keeping an eye on the suspects. Besides this, the guards were visible and accessible, which made them easy targets in case of an attack.

In this regard, a Standard Operation Procedure (SOP) was issued for all the 33 branches of different banks operating in the limits of Industrial Area police and they were asked to construct a bunker inside the bank and post a security guard there. The reason behind this development was simple: at least one guard would be hidden from the robbers and would be able to alert authorities in case things went wrong.

This did have immediate effects as police claim that since the construction of the bunkers in the branches, there has been a decrease in the bank robberies as compared to corresponding periods of 2010 and 2011.

However, there are four banks that are yet to follow the SOP, said an officer on the request of anonymity. “Under the Shop and Security Act, the bank managements are bound to follow the instructions of police and administration,” the officer said and added, “Failure in making security arrangements allows the police and city administration to initiate action against them.”

So far the Industrial Area police have approached the assistant commissioner and lodged complaints against the four branches for not following the police instructions to construct bunkers inside the bank branches and other security measures, and said they have also served notices on these branches in this regard.

“We have asked the managements of these banks to follow the SOP and they have given us assurance as well, but there has been no development on the ground,” he claimed.

It seems that these banks are not willing to invest in their security as their administrations have given the assurance that the bunkers would be constructed in the next fiscal year. “They have sought time from the city administration due to shortage of funds,” the officer said.

A senior officer of the city administration said the SOP would be implemented in all the banks operating in urban and rural areas of Islamabad in the next fiscal year, and a plan had been chalked out to discuss the matter with the banks’ managements.

Besides this, the officer said the city administration and police were also working on the improvement of CCTVs installed in the banks, as they all were outdated. “When the footage is enlarged, it becomes unclear. As a result the people in the footage remained unidentified,” he added.

“We have also issued an SOP that bank managements should keep some CCTV cameras hidden and the computer linked with the cameras should be kept at a hidden place,” he said.