SOP flouted: Walking on crowded road with cash, no gun with ‘gunman’
Times of India | 15 January 2025
123 Kolkata: A preliminary investigation of the Rs 12-lakh snatching outside Quest Mall revealed violation of multiple norms of cash collection SOP by a private agency's employees, who were targeted and robbed on Monday afternoon. Both police and private security firm S&IB agreed that the cash collector had flouted multiple rules, the first being walking on a crowded street, carrying a large amount of cash.
Secondly, police said, the gunman accompanying cash collector Sagar Haldar (32), did not have a gun on him. The third was that while walking in the crowd with the money, the cash collector was a bit far from the gunman, leaving a gap between the two. The probe has so far failed to establish whether the gun—kept in the van—was loaded or not. "Most cash vans that enter this mall park on the driveway for the cash collector to return with the money and get into the vehicle before it is driven out. A few park right in front of Gate No. 5 so that the collector can quickly board the vehicle and leave immediately," said a mall official. "The cash collector on Monday afternoon casually walked out with the amount towards Samsul Huda Road and then to the traffic signal at the intersection with Syed Amir Ali Avenue, when the bike-borne robbers snatched the bag from him."
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The training by private agencies states that every personnel appointed for cash transportation needs to have a training certificate for security and safe handling, and that they should undergo refresher training every two years, said another CMD, adding surprise checks were carried out to ensure norms were not flouted.
Sources said that with no insurance available, the bank is likely to contact the private company and seek explanations. There is a possibility it may even be asked to compensate for the losses.
Kolkata Police said they would speak to the private cash collection and security agency to confirm whether its employees had followed the SOP were not. "We will also speak to the mall security to ascertain if this flouting of norms by some individual collection agents was a daily affair," said an investigating officer.