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After robbery bid, Ludhiana Police issue security guidelines for finance firms
The order stated that the management will be responsible to install and ensure smooth functioning of burglar alarms in the branches.
After a robbery bid at the Dugri Road branch of Muthoot Finance, the police on Friday issued security guidelines for finance companies in the city.
Commissioner of police Rakesh Agrawal has made it mandatory for all finance companies and other such institutions to install night vision CCTVs outside the premises and at all entry and exit points, reception desk and all other vital points inside the branch with storage of up to 30 days with power backup.
According to the police chief, the management shall be responsible to install the DVR/NVR and its UPS, in a place not easily identifiable by visitors, to prevent any damage to the same by miscreants. There must be a provision of remote recording and storage of footage, maybe at a regional office or headquarter of the company, for any eventuality, he said.
The order stated that the management shall be responsible to install and ensure smooth functioning of burglar alarms in the branches. The burglary alarm should be separately operatable by the branch manager, cashier, and any other official of the branch from their seats.
Agrawal said that the alarm should be linked to their respective head offices. Head offices must, in turn, have an effective and prompt communication system where calls and messages can be immediately dispatched to the police control room (PCR).
A BSNL landline phone with an autodialer should be installed in the branch. As soon as the alarm goes off, a teleprompter should automatically inform the PCR regarding the suspicious activity in the branch in a pre-recorded message. The alarm should be audible to neighbouring areas up to 100 metres so that any police patrolling in the vicinity can immediately respond and the civilians can be cautioned.
“The vulnerable valuables like gold and huge amounts of cash must be placed in a separate vault/locked room/strong room. There must be a system of delayed lockers that opens after a delay of 20- 25 minutes post-OTP based authentication. The locking system must be linked to a power backup system so that the security can be ascertained 24x7 and power failure doesn’t lead to any laxity in security. The strong room should necessarily have OTP-based authentication before opening. The strong room should not be opened when visitors are inside the hall,” said Agrawal.
“The management shall be responsible for deploying armed guards at the entrance of all branches. Currency chest branches and gold loan companies must have at least two armed guards during working hours and at least one-armed guard round the clock. All armed guards should be provided with a lanyard with whistles. Gun licences must be kept up-to-date,” he added.
Further, the police chief said that security staff must be deployed after proper antecedents check through police verification. Name and phone numbers of all visitors must be entered in a register, he said.
The management shall provide separate undertakings regarding compliance in this regard to the office of deputy commissioner of police, joint commissioner of police and concerned police station within one month.
