Come April and all the heads of nationalised banks in South Goa will have to deploy security guards and install Closed Circuit TV surveillance cameras (CCTV) for security of the ATMs round the clock.
For, the South Goa district Magistrate has issued an order under section 144 of the CrPC mandating the heads of all nationalised banks across the district to deploy the security guards and install CCTV cameras for the round-the-clock security of ATMs.
The district Magistrate’s order comes following a report submitted by the district Police chief, SP Abhishek Dhania pointing out the need for the deployment of security guards and install CCTV cameras to man the ATMs against the backdrop of the two major ATM robberies reported in Ponda and Margao last year.
SP Dhania has warned that the police would conduct an audit of the ATMs in the month of April, warning that banks, which have not complied with the district Magistrate’s order will be liable for punishment. “The district police had a series of meetings with bank officials, around 13 meetings to be precise, following the ATM thefts in Ponda and Margao. In these cases, the ATMs were unmanned, which made it easy for the robbers to commit the crime. Hence, we have impressed upon the heads of the banking institutions to deploy security guards and also install CCTV cameras around the ATMs for security,” he said.
He added: “Our analysis further showed that almost 70 per cent of ATMs were unmanned, indicating that the banks did not take it seriously to either deploy security guards or bring the ATMs under the CCTV scanner.”
The district police chief said the order issued by the district Magistrate under section 144 of the CrPC has been served on the banking institutions with a direction to implement the guideline by April 1. “The police will conduct an audit of the ATMs located in the South Goa district before initiating action against the heads of the banks for violating the Magistrate’s order, he said, adding that the police will start registering cases against the heads of the banking institutions from April 1. To a question, the district police chief pointed out that around 6,361 CCTV surveillance cameras are in place across the South Goa district, either installed by private individuals or agencies.
