How Bengaluru police cracked the Rs 7.11-Crore heist in 54 Hours: A full breakdown

On the afternoon of November 19, Rs 7.11 crore was stolen in broad daylight in a well-planned heist in Bengaluru, where a six-member gang looted the money from a cash van in the southern part of the city.

As per an investigation report, a CMS Info System van, carrying cash from HDFC Bank's JP Nagar branch, was going towards Lalbagh's Siddapura Gate. The van had a four-member team, driver Binod Kumar, cash custodian Aftab and armed guards Rajanna and Thammaiah.

The robber gang then arrived in a grey metallic Innova and intercepted the cash van near the Ashoka Pillar in Jayanagar somewhere around 1pm.

They introduced themselves as Reserve Bank of India (RBI) officials and asked them for an investigation of the van. Following this, they asked the driver of the cash van to get into the Innova, saying they would be taken to a police station.

Before reaching the Dairy Circle flyover, the robbers gang stopped abruptly in between, and allegedly threatened him at gunpoint asking to transfer the cash boxes in the Innova, and then they drove off.

Upon investigating, Karnataka Home Minister G Parameshwara said that the suspects had changed their vehicles post the heist. Police also found that they changed the number plates to avoid detection by the police.

Sources further said that police suspected at least two other vehicles, a Maruti Suzuki Zen and a Maruti Suzuki Wagon R.

Furthermore, the Maruti Suzuki Swift, whose number plate was misused by the robbers, is owned by a seventy-eight-year-old retired P B Gangadhar, who got shocked and steered by the robbers into trouble after the heist. "The robbers may have randomly swiped my number plate. I don't take that car out anymore since I have health issues. For 10 years now, I've been mostly at home. Our only daughter, who lives abroad, supports us," he said.

The main car used for the heist, Innova, then got reportedly recovered by investigators in Andhra Pradesh, where police suspect the robbers went immediately following the heist. Following this, police suspected that the robbers are holed up in Andhra Pradesh.

And in the final run, on November 22, Bengaluru south division police busted the whole heist, and arrested all six accused, including a police constable and an ex-employee of cash logistics firm. They further recovered a total amount recovered stands at Rs 6.29 crore.

Police learnt that all six of them are from Bengaluru. The arrested are Annappa Naik, a constable, Govindapura police station, J Xavier, an ex-employee of cash logistics firm Info Systems and Gopal Prasad alias Gopi, a fleet manager of the logistic firm. Three of their associates were Ravi, Naveen, and Nelson, who all got detained from Hyderabad.

Further investigation on the probe found that the accused spent 3 months mapping, shadowing and rehearsing the movement of the CMS Info Systems. "The gang conducted multiple dry runs, trailing the cash-van along its daily replenishment circuit across south Bengaluru. The suspects allegedly noted exact halt points, crew’s break timings, blind spots and low-surveillance stretches, eventually identifying junctions most vulnerable," police told DH.

Notably, the overall Bengaluru cash van heist got cracked down within 54 hours by the 200 policemen belonging to 11 special teams were on the hunt for the suspects. Police teams from Siddapura, Jayanagar and the Central Crime Branch were involved in the operation.

However, in a latest learning on November 23, Bengaluru police said that they have arrested the seventh suspect from the heist. "The suspect was arrested in Bengaluru on late Saturday night. Further recovery is yet to be made," said Lokesh B Jagalasar, Deputy Commissioner of Police, South Division, Bengaluru.