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Armed assailants impersonating officials from India’s central bank have carried out a daring robbery, seizing 70 million rupees ($800,000; £600,000) from a cash transport vehicle in broad daylight in Karnataka’s capital, Bengaluru, according to police reports.
The incident occurred on Wednesday afternoon in the bustling heart of the city. Bengaluru Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh told the BBC that six men travelling in an SUV intercepted the van as it was transporting money between two bank branches.
The vehicle was staffed by a driver, a cash custodian, and two armed security guards. The suspects allegedly presented themselves as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) officials and claimed they needed to verify whether the team had valid documentation to transport such a large sum.
Under this guise, the gang ordered the custodian and guards to leave their weapons in the van and board the SUV. The driver was instructed to continue driving the cash vehicle, while the SUV followed closely behind.
After travelling a few kilometres, the robbers forced the driver to stop. They then made the custodian and guards exit the SUV, transferred the cash at gunpoint into their vehicle, and escaped the scene.
Police say the area where the robbery took place had minimal CCTV coverage, and investigators are exploring whether the culprits used multiple vehicles to facilitate their escape.
The company responsible for the cash transport has filed a formal police complaint. A police source, speaking anonymously to the BBC, revealed that the SUV used in the operation had a fake number plate and bore a “Government of India” sticker.
Authorities are also probing the possibility of insider involvement by company employees.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah told the media that the SUV used in the robbery had been recovered. However, Home Minister G Parameshwara later clarified that it was unclear if that vehicle was used for the suspects’ final escape.
“It has been verified that they changed vehicles and moved the money,” he said. He expressed confidence that police would crack the case soon, pointing to previous successes in solving major financial crimes in the state.
In a similar high-profile incident earlier this year, 59kg of gold worth 532.6 million rupees was stolen in May from a bank in Vijayapura district using a duplicate locker key. Police have since recovered 39kg of gold and some cash and arrested 15 people, including two former employees.
Investigations into the Bengaluru heist are ongoing, with a large-scale search operation underway to track down the culprits and recover the stolen money.
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