KARACHl: Another branch of a private bank was struck by robbers who took away over Rs4 million and weapons of the two security guards on Thursday morning as officials said the bank management had not followed the SOP prepared by the State Bank of Pakistan to prevent armed robberies.

This time the JS Bank branch near Sohrab Goth was targeted by over half a dozen robbers, while a week back a branch of the same bank in Gulistan-i-Jauhar had been looted.

It was around 9:30am when nine suspects arrived at the branch situated in Fancy View Apartments off the Superhighway, said an official at the Sachal police station.

He added that six of the suspects entered the branch while the three others were on standby. They snatched two pistols from as many guards posted there, made the staff hostage and collected Rs4.3 million at gunpoint.

Before fleeing, the robbers also took away the digital video recording (DVR) system, said Gadap SP Chaudhry Saifullah.

He added that the police managed to get footage from CCTV cameras at a nearby place and examined it.

It emerged during initial investigation that the guards did not put up any resistance, the officer said, adding that one of them posted at the main gate had allowed the suspects to enter the branch after conducting a body search. The guard claimed that he did not notice that they were carrying arms, according to the officer.

The Gadap SP said the police had asked the bank management to erect bunkers inside the branch as per SOP of the SPB but they did not give pay heed to it.

The officer ruled out the possibility of militants` involvement in this month`s third bank robbery in the city.

On Jan 20, over half a dozen robbers took away Rs375,000 from JS Bank in Block-7, Gulistan-i-Jauhar.

Earlier on Jan 8, eight robbers had looted over Rs1.3 million from a branch of Allied Bank Ltd in K-Area of Korangi.