Ghaziabad PNB heist: Police tell bankers to tighten security

The police, in a meeting with officials from branches of 18 banks, suggested the formation of a WhatsApp group to immediately send an SOS message to the police in emergency situations. The police also told bankers to hire more private guards and collectively carry out night duty outside all branches in a locality.

Following the recent heist at Kapda Mill branch of the Punjab National Bank (PNB) in Modi Nagar, the city police on Wednesday asked bankers to strengthen security measures in their branches.

Of the 435 lockers, 30 were broken into and valuables, stolen. The burglars had bored a hole in the strongroom of the branch from the rear and escaped from the same opening. (Sakib Ali/HT)

The police, in a meeting with officials from branches of 18 banks, suggested the formation of a WhatsApp group to immediately send an SOS message to the police in emergency situations. The police also told bankers to hire more private guards and collectively carry out night duty outside all branches in a locality.

“We asked them to immediately strengthen and repair the susceptible areas of their branch building and carry out repairs to windows, grills and doors. We have asked them to install more CCTV cameras and ensure that the entire premises is under surveillance. We also asked them to install and check sensors at the earliest,” said Rajesh Kumar Singh, circle officer (city).

“We have told them to put the safety measures in place at the earliest. We will soon conduct a surprise inspection of banks. A report will be sent to the state administration if the banks fail to implement the safety measures,” he said.

Meanwhile, customers continued to throng PNB’s Modi Nagar branch to have a look at their lockers. Of the 435 lockers, 30 were broken into and valuables, stolen. The burglars had bored a hole in the strongroom of the branch from the rear and escaped from the same opening.

The incident came to light on Monday morning. However, the police have asked the branch to give them in writing the details of the 30 lockers that were broken into. The police said that the branch officials mentioned that only 11 lockers were broken into, in the FIR lodged at Modi Nagar police station.

“Later, they told that there were 30 lockers in all. We have asked them to furnish a list of all lockers that were damaged. It is surprising that the branch officials could not give correct information in the FIR,” said Dhruv Bhushan Dubey, station house officer, Modi Nagar.

Branch manager Ashok Srivastava said that the officials, initially, had noticed only 11 damaged lockers.

“It was upon an assessment later that we realised that 30 lockers were broken into, totally. We have given in writing to police about the additional lockers that were damaged. So far, we have not made an assessment of valuables lost. We are compiling the list from customers and have also informed other customers to inspect their respective lockers,” he said.

The police teams are continuing to investigate the incident but are yet to get any more leads.