Robbery: city banks tighten security

In a bid to avoid robberies,many city-based banks have decided to beef up security on their premises. The Apna Sahakari Bank at Bhoiwada...

In a bid to avoid robberies,many city-based banks have decided to beef up security on their premises. The Apna Sahakari Bank at Bhoiwada,from where two armed men had decamped with Rs 28 lakh a week ago,appointed a security guard,who is trained in combat techniques,two days after the incident. Also,more officials will work in the morning shift when the money is taken out of the strong room.

The Newsline visited four other banks which were robbed in the past three years. These banks also have heightened the security.

On the morning of February 3,2006, eight robbers had robbed Rs 37 lakh from the District Co-operative Bank at Jagdusha Nagar in Ghatkopar. The bank is yet to install CCTV cameras,but now has an alarm system and a guard.

The robbers entered into the bank like customers at 8.30 am and made their way into the strong room. The guard was inside. Hence,he couldnt stop them. Now,we do not allow customers inside till the armed guard stations at the entrance. We have new alarm systems also, said S S Bhagat,branch manager of the bank.

The Mulund Branch of Catholic Syrian Bank,which was robbed of Rs 9.5 lakh at gunpoint by seven robbers in March 2005,had shifted to a new office a year later. Now,a guard with a cane sits near the door of the bank but the banks manager Babu C K said the banks regular armed guard was on leave and currently they have appointed a temporary guard. We have requested our head office for CCTVs, he said.

On January 25,2005,the Syndicate Bank in Mulund lost Rs 7 lakh when armed robbers accosted the bank employees as they were bringing cash from a company to the bank. The bank has ever since stopped sending its employees to client companies to get the cash and instead as a policy,requests them to bring the cash to the bank. We have installed CCTV cameras and hired two guards. We keep a minimum amount of cash inside, said an official of the bank.

In November 2008,a knife-wielding man was nabbed while trying to rob the Bhandup branch of Bank of India by threatening the two women employees. Since then,we have installed CCTV cameras and also have an armed guard. I also keep an eye on the people. At the time of the robbery,I was on leave. Both the women employees have been transferred as they had become psychologically upset after the incident, said Prashant Gujar,the branch manager of the bank.

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The police,however,say that though they tell the banks to step up security,their words go unheeded. The money in the banks is insured. So the banks dont wake up to security concerns. After the robbery at Apna Sahakari,we held a meeting with branch managers of the banks in our area and told them to enforce stringent security measures, said Senior Police inspector Ambadas Gadade of the Bhoiwada police station.

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