KARACHI, Dec 23: As police authorities find themselves clueless about the rising trend of armed robberies and bank heists, a recent circular issued by the State Bank of Pakistan may further cause headaches to the law enforcers. The circular warned its employees about a ‘gang’ operating with the intent to forcibly make unauthorized use of credit, debit and ATM cards.
The recently issued circular by the SBP’s Internal Security Department, which cited reliable sources, disclosed that a few members of a criminal gang are reportedly operating on I.I. Chundrigar Road as well as other busy commercial areas.
“They look for apparently well-to-do individuals, with the intent to forcibly make unauthorized use of their credit/debit and ATM cards,” it said. “The objective of the circular is to help all employees of the SBP (H.O.K), SBP BSC in avoiding possible mishaps relating to the activities of this gang.”
The SBP also defined the way the gang operates but said no weapon has been physically seen and used openly by any member of the group in the attempts so far. Going into the minor details of the gang’s modus operandi, it said the alleged members have been found very well dressed and it is hard to make out their intent from their appearances.
“They are mostly (dressed) in closed collar (shirts) with or without jackets etc,” the circular said. “They will walk up very briskly and will shake hands, ask you (about) some wrong name and organization etc. Then, the individual (victim) is dictated, directed or threatened by them to proceed further, as per their orders.”
This gang, the SBP said, is not mobile and usually makes their trip either on rickshaw, cab, bus or partly on foot. But during the course of the incident, the circular added, they are continuously in touch with some associates via cell phone.
Shopping spree
“They ask for the pin codes of the ATM and debit cards, take you to the ATM lobbies, withdraw cash and then proceed further for shopping,” it said. “They keep the individual engaged in all of this for about two to five hours (keeping in view the number of cards you are carrying) and then disengage.”
Based on the victims’ accounts, the State Bank said gang members do not permit the victim to turn on the mobile, while the victim is with them throughout the course of the incident as a safety measure so that nobody follows them.
“They instruct the individual to behave normally and to acknowledge the shopping list as per their desire,” it added.The State Bank’s warning to its employees is reflective of a persistent security threat on I.I. Chundrigar Road, which houses the headquarters of major national, multinational and private business organizations of the country.
The police authorities recognized the threat but believed it is not as severe as described by the State Bank. They believe the banking and money market regulator is more concerned about alerting its employees.
Concern ‘exaggerated’
“There are some cases reported on I.I. Chundrigar Road as mentioned in the State Bank’s circular,” said Capital City Police Office Azhar Ali Farooqi. “But such cases are in several areas of the city and we are concerned about all of those. The concerns raised by the State Bank sound a little exaggerated.”
However, he said the police would be more active in the particular area, which was frequented by hundreds of people everyday coming to their workplaces and which witnessed transactions of millions of rupees daily in banks mostly from the corporate sector.
As the CCPO’s commitment may take time to realize, the State Bank has, however, asked its hundreds of employees to be alert and take all measures before moving outside the bank to escape such attempts.
“All employees should avoid moving singly during lunch and tea breaks, at the end of the day and also late at night,” it said. “Minimum cash, valuables or costly mobiles should be kept on person while commuting between offices, eating areas, shops and residence.”
It said only minimum desired credit and ATM cards with safe cash and merchant limits should be kept once on I.I. Chundrigar Road and specifically during office hours as the peak hours are used by the culprits to their advantage.
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