Rs 4.5 lakh robbed from car parked near Bengaluru top cop’s office

Police said a few suspects were arrested by the Bandepalya police but it was not yet clear if they were indeed involved

In a daring heist, robbers smashed the windscreen of a car parked near the police commissioner’s office and fled with Rs 4.5 lakh kept in the dashboard.

The robbers tailed Lakshmeesh V, 36, as soon as he came out of Canara Bank’s Mahadevapura branch with a paper bag carrying the cash, got into his Maruti Swift and drove towards the city centre — a distance of over 15 kilometres — on July 16.

Lakshmeesh, a business consultant, had gone to the bank to deposit Rs 4.5 lakh in his savings account to pay off a home loan that he had taken from Kuvempu Cooperative Credit Society Limited, Rajajinagar. He got the cash after selling off his mother’s gold jewellery.

The bank asked for his PAN to accept the cash deposit. He didn’t have it. So he changed his mind and decided to head to the legal metrology department, as per a prior plan.

A friend named Rajesh accompanied him.

They reached the department’s office on Ali Asker Road at around 2.45 pm.

They pulled into the parking lot, got off the car and walked into the building. But they soon found the office was shifted to a building at the back.

By this time, Rajesh had to use the toilet. Minutes later, as he and Lakshmeesh were walking out, the latter noticed a man carrying a paper bag that looked similar to the cash bag he had kept on the dashboard of his car.

Lakshmeesh ran towards the car. His worst fears came true when he found the car’s left front windscreen was smashed and the cash bag was missing from the dashboard.

Lakshmeesh screamed at the top of his lungs and looked for the man. By then, the robber had reached a Bajaj Pulsar motorcycle where his accomplice was waiting. Seeing Lakshmeesh, the duo almost fell down but somehow managed to get into the bike and ride off.

Lakshmeesh just ran after them. The bikers got so panicky that they rode into the wrong side, towards the Raj Bhavan, and disappeared into the traffic.

Lakshmeesh later filed a complaint at the Vidhana Soudha police station.

Going by the CCTV footage, police suspect the gang had four members because two motorcycles exited the legal metrology department at once and rode into the wrong side.

Speaking to DH, Lakshmeesh said he was certain it was the handiwork of professional robbers. “They tailed me and I had no clue. They kept a distance of 200-300 metres,” he added.

To his dismay, he said, no CCTV camera was working at the department’s office. He also wished the police were helpful when citizens report such crimes.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Central) R Srinivas Gowda said a few suspects were arrested by the Bandepalya police but it was not yet clear if they were indeed involved. Further investigations are going on, he added.