Bengaluru police conduct security meeting with bank officials

Following the theft in an ATM in Bellandur on Sunday, the Whitefield division police recently convened a meeting with bank authorities to heighten safety and security measures.

Following the theft in an ATM in Bellandur on Sunday, the Whitefield division police recently convened a meeting with bank authorities to heighten safety and security measures.

An audit conducted by the beat police in the division revealed that a majority of the banks and ATMs, out of around 100, have low quality CCTV cameras with no proper security measures. Many of them do not have security guards, which was mandated by former Police Commissioner Raghavendra H. Auradkar, who had issued a set of instructions to the banks operating in the city to install alarm systems as well as CCTV cameras in all ATMs and employ security guards round the clock. The order was issued on January 2014 following the brutal assault on bank manager Jyothi Uday in the Corporation Bank ATM kiosk on November 2013.

Despite repeated reminders, banks have failed to take up security measures, which have resulted in repeated crimes related to banks and ATMs, said a senior police officer who was part of the awareness meeting. Bank officials have been instructed to install high definition CCTV cameras and burglar alarms and hire security guards at ATMs.

“Many a times, the security cameras do not even cover 100 m radius, which is a hinderance to the investigation,” another police officer added. “Even though it was made mandatory for ATMs to deploy security guards, many banks have opted for e-surveillance offered by private companies. Though these companies claim to monitor ATMs round the clock and alert immediately in case of any eventuality, they fail to alert the banks on time. The Bellandur ATM theft is a classic example as the accused used spray paint to blacken the CCTVs before cutting open the machine and escaping with cash worth over ₹16 lakh. The ATM was under e-surveillance, but the bank got the alert after four hours of the incident,” a police officer said.

Bank officials have also been instructed to train security guards to identity genuine customers and suspicious elements who are part of the attention diversion gang. The gang members, according to the police, target victims from the banks and rob them after following them. “Alertness on part of the security guards can be a deterrence to prevent possible crimes,” said Reena Suvarna, Assistant Commissioner of Police, Whitefield division.

As part of the follow up action, the patrolling police have been instructed to keep an eye on the security measures taken up by the banks for further procedure.