In 1-hr heist, ? Rs 7 crore looted from cash mgmt co in Ludhiana; woman’s role suspected

LUDHIANA: The money heist involving eight masked men, who barged into the office of CMS, a cash management security system company in Aman Park area and escaped with around Rs 7 crore cash, is not the first of its kind. Unattended ATM kiosks and gold loan companies in the city have been targeted before.
On October 16, 2020, six armed men tried to execute a robbery at Muthoot Finance, Dugri Road, where they held the staff captive. After the incident, city police came up with guidelines for companies dealing in large amounts of cash and gold. However, the initial enthusiasm to implement the guidelines soon fizzled out. The Aman park robbery could have been averted had those guidelines been properly enforced.
During the strike on Muthoot Finance in October 2020, the accused took 30kg gold and Rs 2.75 lakh cash. Police managed to nab three of the robbers with the help of onlookers and recovered the gold from them.
Also, police had received timely information and CCTV camera footage of company employees being held captive.
Guidelines framed by then police commissioner Rakesh Agarwal included having remote recording and storage of office footage at the regional office or company headquarters and having emergency alarms at different locations and cabins of the office, further linked with the head office.
Head offices of such companies were also asked to institute an effective and prompt communication system wherein call messages could be dispatched to the police control room immediately.