Robbers wearing masks during COVID-19 crisis posing challenge for police

Incidents of miscreants wearing face masks during COVID-19 crisis attempting to break open bank ATMs gave a tough challenge to Kolkata Police as it was really difficult to keep a check on such crimes. The police have till now failed to identify the culprits responsible for the failed robbery attempts.

Kolkata (West Bengal):Incidents of miscreants wearing face masks attempting to break open bank ATMs have posed a new challenge with the city police trying to find a way out to keep a check on such crimes, a senior officer of Kolkata Police said.

Since wearing masks have been made mandatory for the COVID-19 outbreak, the police are having a "tough time" in identifying the culprits, the officer said.

“Not only employing guards will be enough to prevent such incidents. An alarm system needs to be strengthened in such a way that once an attempt is made to break open an ATM, the nearby police station is alerted to respond in quick time”.

"This can be done for the time being to counter such crimes and then we need to put in place some other plans," the IPS officer said.

The Kolkata Police has recently held an online meeting with bank officials after there were abortive attempts of ATM break-ins reported from different parts of the city.

The police have till now failed to identify the culprits responsible for the failed robbery attempts.

There has been a sharp dip in the number of crimes since lockdown was announced on March 25 but once the norms were relaxed as a part of the unlock 1, the rate of crime has started increasing, he said.

(PTI report)