Bengaluru police have arrested three individuals after a high-profile heist in which armed men impersonated central bank officials to rob an ATM cash van, stealing about 70 million rupees (around $800,000) in a carefully orchestrated operation.
On Saturday, police announced they had apprehended the suspects and recovered 57.6 million rupees of the stolen funds just three days after the incident. Bengaluru Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh confirmed the detainment and stated, Our investigation is on track to recover the remaining amount. He indicated that efforts were ongoing to locate additional suspects.
The suspects include Gopal Prasad, an employee of the cash transport company CMS, J Xavier, a former CMS employee, and Annappa Naik, a local police constable. The robbery occurred in broad daylight in Bengaluru's Lalbagh area, where the gang members stopped the transport vehicle under the pretense of checking paperwork required for such a large sum of cash.
Police reported that the heist unfolded with the vehicle's cash custodian and security guards being lured into an SUV, while one of the thieves took control of the cash van. The criminals employed fake registration plates for their getaway vehicles and targeted locations with limited CCTV coverage to facilitate their transfer of cash.
A significant police operation was initiated on Wednesday, involving over 200 officers from various states, including neighbouring Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Goa. Investigators are also probing CMS for possible protocol violations regarding cash transport, especially in regards to the routineness of their schedules, which may have made them vulnerable to such a theft.
