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How Bengaluru Police cracked the ATM van heist after a 54-hour chase
The arrests came after a massive manhunt involving more than 200 police personnel.
Three men have been arrested in the ₹7.11 crore daylight robbery of an ATM cash refill van, Bengaluru Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh said on Saturday.
Singh said the arrests came after a massive manhunt involving more than 200 police personnel.
Eleven teams were formed, drawing in 11 police inspectors and 2 ACPs from the South Division and six officers from the CCB, all working under close supervision of senior leadership.
Also Read | Bengaluru ATM heist: Police officer, cash van in-charge held as cops crack case; seize ₹5.7 crore
What was the robbery?
On November 19, a group of unidentified men posing as RBI officials intercepted an ATM cash van in Bengaluru and fled with nearly ₹7 crore, a robbery that police say may be the city’s biggest so far.
The heist took place while a CMS Info Systems vehicle was carrying cash from a private bank branch in JP Nagar.
The gang arrived in a car bearing a Government of India sticker, stopped the van on the pretext of verifying documents, and then forced the staff and the cash into their own vehicle.
The employees were later dropped near Dairy Circle, while the robbers escaped with the money.
Also Read | Major breakthrough in Bengaluru ATM cash heist case after police constable detained: Report
Investigation across states, many questioned
Teams fanned out across Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, with some even tracking leads up to Goa.
Over 30 people were questioned as investigators pieced together technical clues, field intelligence, CCTV footage and vehicle movement data.
The effort paid off quickly. Within the first 24 hours, police had identified the suspects and the vehicles involved.
The three accused were detained within 54 hours, and ₹5.76 crore of the stolen money was recovered in the next six hours.
One of the getaway vehicles was also traced and seized. Police believe the gang consisted of six to eight people who jointly planned and executed the robbery, including managing the distribution and movement of the stolen cash afterwards.
Who were arrested?
Those arrested include a constable from the Govindarajanagar police station, a former employee of CMS Infosystems, and the in-charge of the cash refill vehicle.
Investigators had begun to suspect an insider role on Friday, after mobile tower data from the robbery site revealed repeated calls between the constable and the former CMS employee during the heist.
Their call records showed frequent communication in the days leading up to the robbery as well. The ex-employee had recently resigned and had become closely acquainted with the constable, officers said.
Another key lead was the getaway vehicle used by the gang, which was later found abandoned near Tirupati in Chittoor district.
Police say the investigation is continuing as efforts are underway to track down the remaining members of the group.
