Giving details, Police Control Room (PCR) DSP Sandeep Sharma told Newsline, “We have approached almost all the banks in and around the city and have asked them to send their guards to the Police Lines so that we can give them proper training on guarding banks and operating firearms.”

DSP Sharma said guards would be trained in a phased manner using infrastructure at the Police Lines. “All the banks have shown a keen interest in our proposal,” Sharma added.

Sources said as bank guards remain present at the bank branches all the time, they were the best persons to foil robbery attempts. During a survey of the banks conducted by the Ludhiana police recently, it came to light that a few banks do not follow safety precautions issued by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).