The Bangalore city police have shut down 1,137 unguarded ATM kiosks of the 3,400 kiosks in the city since Sunday evening, even though many banks have approached the police seeking extension of the deadline.
Additional Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Kamal Pant told The Hindu that most of the ATMs did not have security guards despite the banks concerned being given a deadline leaving the police with no option but to shut them down.
Though the magisterial order issued by City Police Commissioner Raghavendra H. Auradkar had made it mandatory for the banks to install CCTV cameras to cover inside and outside of the kiosks as well as burglar alarm system, police officials said they were presently closing down ATM centres that did not have security guards. “Many ATMs have CCTV cameras, but our main concern is deployment of security guards,” Mr. Kamal Pant added.
“Many senior officials of the banks approached the Police Commissioner seeking extension of the deadline, but we have made it clear that that the security will not be compromised at any cost,” he added. “Let them depute a guard from tomorrow and we will allow them to operate from the next moment and not otherwise,” Mr. Pant reiterated. He said: “The banks have failed to follow the magisterial order issued by the Police Commissioner. So, we will take action according to law against the banks, which have failed to follow the order.”
Meanwhile, the special teams formed to nab the man who attacked a woman in an ATM kiosk in Bangalore recently are still looking for the clues to trace him.
