6 held for cash robbery from supply vehicle near ATM kiosk

The Wilson Garden police nabbed six persons, allegedly part of the eight-member gang that robbed a bag containing Rs 11.5 lakh cash meant for an ATM counter in Shanthinagar, just five hours after the incident on Sunday.

An amount of Rs 2.5 lakh has been recovered.

According to the police, the gang members distracted the driver of the vehicle supplying cash to the Karnataka Bank ATM counter on HK Road, Shanthinagar and stole the bag from inside the vehicle. Two others of the gang are still at large.
The arrested are Rajesh, Shankar, Jagannathan, Senthil, Jnanavelu and Kumaresan, all residents of Tiruchirapalli in Tamil Nadu.

They are members of the infamous Tiruchi gang, known for robbing huge sums after diverting the victims’ attention, police said.

The gunman with the vehicle was outside the bank, waiting for the personnel who had gone inside the ATM kiosk to come back for the bag of money. The driver was sitting alone in the car with the bag, said the police.

After dropping a few Rs 10 notes a little distance away from the vehicle, some of the suspects approached the driver, pointed at the fallen notes and asked him if the notes belonged to the bank, the police said.

When the unsuspecting driver got off the vehicle to inspect the notes on the ground, the other suspects grabbed the bag inside the vehicle and fled, police said.

The gunman raised an alarm, and along with the driver, tried to chase them. The robbers had escaped with the money by then, police said.

The Central Division Police soon constituted a special team, which analysed footage of CCTVs in the area.

Suspecting the involvement of two gangs - Irani and Tiruchi - the police contacted their informants. It was learnt that a few members of the gang had gone to Bengaluru from Tiruchi.

Rajesh, Shankar and Jagannathan were arrested near the City Railway Station, while Senthil, Jnanavelu and Kumaresan were arrested near a bus stand in Hosur, Tamil Nadu, the police said. They are on the lookout for the other members and are trying to trace Rs 9 lakh.