Cops nab duo who drove off with Rs 90 lakh meant for ATMs

Two employees of a cash replenishing  firm who drove away with Rs 90 lakh in  Bengaluru on January 29 were arrested in Ballari on Monday. Two of their three accomplices were also apprehended.  

Narayanaswamy (45) and his assistant Narasimharaju (28) reportedly took the help of  Riaz (30), Jagadish and an unidentified man to drive off with the cash van. The money was meant for ATMs in Bengaluru. The police said the suspects abandoned the Tata Sumo in the Kittanahalli forest area in Madanayakanahalli, Ramanagaram district, after the escapade. They then took a bus to Ballari and had been staying there ever since.  

Narasimharaju, of Hebbur village in Tumakuru district, and Narayanaswamy, of Uttarahalli, worked for CMS Cash Management Solutions that was contracted by banks to refill their ATMs. They roped in the three men to pull off the heist.  

The police quoted Narayanaswamy as saying that he decided to steal the money to repay Rs 15 lakh he had borrowed from  moneylenders. A senior police officer said  Rs 80 lakh had been recovered from and that they were searching for the fifth suspect in Ballari.