Dhanbad, Oct. 29 :     A red alert has been sounded in Bokaro and the adjoining districts of Dhanbad, Purulia and Asansol for capturing the dacoits who looted Rs 26 lakh from the Krishi Bazar Samity branch of the State Bank of India near Chas on Wednesday. The Bokaro district police have failed to achieve any major breakthrough in connection with the dacoity although more than 48 hours have passed since the incident occurred. Sniffer dogs were pressed into service by the police, but they too have failed to produce results. The Bokaro police have sent wireless messages to their counterparts in Dhanbad and Purulia giving details for identifying the culprits. The regional general manager of the State Bank of India (SBI) visited the Krishi Bazar Samity branch to take stock of the situation. He also reviewed the security arrangements at the bank. On Wednesday when the SBI branch was looted, Bokaro superintendent of police R.S. Bhatti was on leave. Earlier, when armed dacoits had looted Rs 18 lakh from the Jodhadih More branch of the Bank of India, the then Bokaro superintendent of police Rezi Dung Dung was also on leave. This might be a pointer to the modus operandi of the gang of dacoits. Bhatti is scheduled to join tomorrow. The investigation into the dacoity is now being supervised by deputy superintendent of police (Chas) Nagendra Prasad Singh. There has been a spate of bank robberies in Bokaro district during the last three years. Four of them have occurred in the Chas area alone. Following Wednesday?s dacoity, it has come to light that nearly all the nationalised banks in Bokaro lack foolproof security measures. The local police are also indifferent towards conducting routine security checks. The Krishi Bazar Samity branch of the State Bank of India handles transactions worth over Rs 7 crore every month but there is only one securitymen armed with an old double-barrelled gun. In most of the bank dacoities in the area, the dacoits snatched the guns from the security guards. Moreover, the burglar alarm systems do not function at the time of the burglaries. The Bank Employees? Association of Bokaro has demanded adequate security measures for all the banks in the area.