Seven men barged into the office of Manappuram Finance Ltd in Jnana Ganga Nagar in western Bengaluru, threatened the staff with lethal weapons and fled with 15.8 kg of gold jewellery and Rs two lakh in cash, the police said.
The suspects, six of whom have been arrested, had targeted the gold loan company after watching a Tamil movie and reading a news report about a similar heist. The police said they arrested A Dhanashekhar, 30, Mohan, 28, M Ramakumar, 23, Vinod Kumar, 23, all residents of Choodasandra Cross, Suresh, 26, from Cottonpet, and S Suresh, 29, a resident of Magadi Road. They are hunting for the seventh suspect.
Two of the men — Dhanashekhar and Suresh — did a recce of the firm’s office for lapses in its security. The heist occurred on October 16. What drove them to the crime was a desire to lead a lavish lifestyle, the police said.
The men earlier lived in unauthorised houses at Arasu Nagar on Magadi Road, which were demolished by the authorities. They later moved to houses in Choodasandra built by the Karnataka Slum Clearance Board.
According to the police, the men are childhood friends and started indulging in many vices about five years ago. They had borrowed heavily from many people but could not repay. In order to clear the debt and become rich overnight, they decided to carry a heist. They picked the Manappuram Finance office given its vulnerability and poor security.
They bought lethal weapons, masks and hand gloves from shops in Cottonpet. On the day of the heist, they consumed liquor at a bar and then dashed to the firm’s office.
The police said they made the arrests after working on leads obtained from the CCTV footage. Besides, they were tipped off about the newly acquired lavish lifestyle of the men who continued to live in the slum quarters.
The police said they recovered 13 kg of gold ornaments worth Rs four crore, Rs 1.5 lakh in cash, four motorcycles and as many cellphones from the suspects.
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