Salauddin inside the Central Bank of India Hathwa market branch in Chhapra on Tuesday. Picture by Rakesh K Singh

Chhapra, Jan. 17: Taking advantage of defunct closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras at the Hathwa market branch of Central Bank of India, three persons allegedly slipped out of its premises today with Rs 1.5 lakh of a customer.

On being informed, police rushed to the spot but found none of the four CCTV cameras in the branch was functioning. The incident has once again exposed the security loopholes in banks in the town.

The incident occurred around 12.30pm today at the main branch of the Central Bank of India, located at the busy Hathua market.

The victim, Salauddin alias Sunny, told The Telegraph that he had gone to the bank to deposit the amount this afternoon. “When I went to the counter to deposit the money and opened my bag, I did not see anyone at the counter. Instead, I saw three youths moving around aimlessly. One of them asked me how to fill up a form. I tried to explain to him how it was to be done and showed him the instructions. Meanwhile, one Jain Saheb, an employee of the bank, asked him to come inside and he went. After this, I filled up my deposit form and went to the counter. Then, when I put my hand inside my bag to my horror I found that it was empty,” he said.

“When I went inside the bank to look for the three youths, I could not find any of them,” he said, adding: “I am sure one of them ran away with the money.”

Sunny is an employee of MM Construction and Suppliers Limited.

Learning about the incident, the owner of the company, Manish Singh, arrived at the bank.

Manish said: “We have been depositing money at this branch for the past seven years, but nothing untoward had happened. Had the CCTV cameras at the bank been working, the culprits could have been caught easily.”

Blaming the bank manager for the loss of money, Manish said: “The money was stolen because of his carelessness.”

The CCTV cameras at the branch have not been working allegedly for the past one year. A source in the bank told The Telegraph that the hidden cameras stopped functioning barely three days after being installed at the branch.

On why the CCTV cameras in the bank have not been functioning for such a long time, bank manager Chandrama Manjhi said: “I had informed the security officer at the regional office in Siwan about the defunct CCTV cameras on January 3. They had assured us that the CCTV cameras would be repaired soon. But nothing has been done so far.” Sunny has lodged an FIR with the Town police station.

Saran range deputy inspector-general of police Sunil Kumar said non-functioning of CCTV cameras was a grave lapse on the part of the bank authorities.

“It shows negligence on the issue of security. The system could have been repaired within hours. We cannot understand why it was not done,” he said.

Clearly, the banks here have not learnt the lessons from the December 31 loot of over Rs 45 lakh from the Teknewas branch of Bank of India. The robbers have still not been traced, thanks to the defunct CCTV cameras at the branch.

Sources said the criminals had an easy access to their target, as the bank authorities did not ensure adequate security. The CCTV cameras and alarms in the bank were defunct. There was neither any security guard at the bank nor did the authorities inform the police — they are supposed to according to norms — about the large amount in the bank’s locker.