Ghulam Bashir Sheikh Additional Inspector General (AIG), Karachi on Saturday held the management of local banks responsible for the unabated spree of bank robberies in the city. Speaking at a press conference held at CPO office here, AIG said the defective standard operating procedures (SOPs) of local banks provided lucrative opportunities to the looters to commit the said crime.
He said the records of bank robberies for the last five years revealed that the robbers had only targeted local banks as the foreign banks strictly followed their SOPs to prevent such incidents. He said the robbers got all technical knowledge, ie where the DVR recording system was placed; how the system would be destroyed, etc before crime. He said the branches of the banks used to send all DVR recording to their respective head office on daily basis but the said exercise is not presently being practiced, which is not only helpful for the looters but also create problems for the law enforcers to identify the culprits.
Therefore, all banks have been asked to maintain DVR recording on daily basis and would transmit the same to their respective head offices and police department as well, he appraised. Moreover, AIG, Karachi said the concerned SHOs have also been directed to ensure snap checking and patrolling, especially in the jurisdiction of banks during peak hours. Replying to a question, he said the police officers, who foiled bank robbery bid on November 24, 2011, have been promoted and awarded medals as well and added that both robbers, who were caught in this robbery bid and were identified as Muhammad Zaman Afridi and Sharif Khan Khaskheli, hailed from Kohat.
He termed the said arrests as major breakthrough, saying that the Sindh police have so far identified 12 gangs, which are reportedly involved in the recent bank robberies. He was optimistic to burst the said gangs, saying that evidences in this regard have been gathered and the Sindh police would soon initiate stern action against all identified gangs.
Furthermore, he said that three of five terrorists, who were killed in Sea-view blast, were Chechens and entered in the city from Quetta route. He said the terrorists including a woman had planned to target Abdullah Shah Ghazi shrine but faced unfortunate incident before they reached to the spot. Informing about the Muharram security plan, Sheikh said some 15,000 policemen would be deployed at all sensitive areas and strict vigilance would be made from all concerned control rooms to avert any untoward happening during Muharram.