Due to the security guards of a state bank located in Mawathagama town forgetting to lock the bank, the bank remained insecure until yesterday (01) morning.
When the doors of this bank are locked, the key is left in the custody of the police. A senior police officer mentioned that since this bank is going to be moved to another place, the manager and the staff stay in the bank till night as the files are being prepared.
Therefore, after getting the keys of this bank, the bank security guards returned to the police station at around 9.15 pm yesterday (28) as usual. Thus the keys are handed over to the police after all the employees have left the bank. Police say that at least the security guards of this bank do not stay there at night.
As ATMs have been seized by thieves in recent days, police patrols around banks have been increased. Accordingly, the Mawathagama police have launched a program to protect the banking system in Mawathagama from night patrols.
A senior police officer mentioned that today (01) at around 7.15 am, two Mawathagama police officers on a motorcycle were checking banks and saw that the locks that were placed on the door of this bank had been removed. The two officers have taken steps to inform the police OIC about it. Accordingly, a police team, including the police OIC, came to the bank, suspecting that thieves had broken into the bank. Then Police OIC informed the higher officers and the bank manager about this and brought him to the bank.
The subsequent investigation revealed that the bank was not broken by thieves and was left open due to a mistake by the security officer when closing the doors the previous night.
