Of 1,336 bank branches in the city, close to 40 per cent do not have CCTV camera facilities and other security features such as burglar alarms.
Among 450 bank branches that do not have such facilities, nationalised banks are a majority. Chennai has 26 nationalised banks that have 986 branches and 39 private banks that have 350 branches.
These facts were highlighted at a meeting held on Tuesday evening in the wake of Monday's bank robbery in Keelkattalai. Commissioner of Police J.K.Tripathy met representatives of the Reserve Bank of India headed by the Deputy General Manager. As many as 60 representatives from 39 banks in the city, both private and nationalised banks, attended the meeting.
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The Commissioner directed all banks that did not have adequate security measures to immediately do the needful. Bank representatives were also provided a set of guidelines such as installing cameras outside locker facilities, beepers to ensure that lockers are not left unlocked and CCTV cameras to be installed inside, in front of and in the parking area of banks.
The police also insisted on banks setting up a hotline that connects to the nearest police station, according to police sources.