News
Bank’s security inadequate, police warnings went unheeded
Lapses in security arrangements at a State bank in Thalawa are being probed, as the search for the robbers who got away with Rs 160 million in cash and jewellery, continues.
Initial investigations revealed the gang had broken into the bank from the rear, close to a scrub jungle.
A senior Police officer in the area said the Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of Thalawa Police station, on a visit to the bank late last year, warned the management that the bank’s security was inadequate and to take additional security precautions.
He said that related log entries too had been placed on record at the police station regarding the warning.
He said a second warning pertaining to the bank’s security arrangements was issued to the bank in writing, on June 18, 2018, by the newly appointed OIC of Thalawa police station.
“We are of the view that no steps were taken to improve the security arrangements, even after these warnings,” said a senior police officer involved in the investigations.
“The bank’s rear door was not sturdy. There were CCTV cameras installed at the front entrance to the bank, but not at the rear of the building, from where the robbers gained entry,” police revealed.
Police also noticed that firearms belonging to the bank’s security guards were in the same safe where the cash and jewellery had been kept, though standard procedure is to secure firearms at a separate location. “If the robbers wanted to, they could have also made off with the firearms, though they had not done so, probably because the weapons were too cumbersome to carry and would attract attention,” police said.
No security guard was on duty at the time of the robbery, which police said had occurred sometime between 6 pm on Friday and 6 am on Monday. After the bank closes for the weekend on Friday, the bank manager hands over the keys to the Thalawa police station. They are then collected on Monday morning.
“The bank had not retained security guards for the weekend because it was confident of its internal alarm system. The robbers, however, seemed to have been aware of the system, as they had first switched off the bank’s main power and then disconnected a generator that would start automatically when the power went out. They had also taken the memory cards of the CCTV cameras installed within,” investigators said.
“Clearly, the thieves were fully aware of the security loopholes at the bank and had extensively studied its layout before committing the crime,” the senior officer further observed.
Police expressed frustration at the bank’s disregard of its warnings. “If at least some of the lapses had been rectified, and even if the robbery had still occurred, it would have made the robbers’ job much more difficult, resulting in them leaving more clues for detectives to go on,” officers pointed out.
Eight police teams from the Anuradhapura Range have been deployed to investigate the robbery and arrest those involved. Meanwhile, a team of Criminal Investigation Dept (CID) officers has also been dispatched from Colombo, on the instructions of the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Police Spokesman, Superintendent of Police (SP) Ruwan Gunasekara told the Sunday Times.
SP Gunasekara said many banks are culpable of not taking proper security precautions, making them vulnerable to robbers. “Some banks don’t take any precautions.
In some branches, there are security guards with no firearms. In branches where guards have weapons, they haven’t been given proper training to handle them.
There have been cases where robbers have made off with not just cash and jewellery, but even weapons belonging to the guards, because they had no training and were reluctant to use them.”
The SP said police can only advise banks regarding the security arrangements they ought to take, and it was up to the banks to act upon the advice.