BENGALURU: Six states, 200 cops, a mountain of phone data and CCTV footage dump, and 72 hours of massive hunt. Plus human intelligence. With this, Bengaluru police have arrested six persons, including a police constable, and recovered Rs 6.29 crore of the Rs 7.11 crore spirited away from a bank van on Nov 19.
The arrested include Annappa Naik of Govindapura police station in the east division; Xavier, a former employee of CMS Cash Management Services, which runs cash vans; Gopal Prasad, in charge of transport vehicle; their friends Naveen, Nelson and Ravi.
The gang had executed a near-flawless, insider-assisted daring daylight heist: Three months of planning, 15-day recce, chose spots outside CCTV coverage, multiple vehicles with fake number plates, and communicated in different languages via WhatsApp calls to avoid detection.
Police commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh said the crime — committed on Dairy Circle flyover, a shadow police jurisdiction — was reported two hours later with wrong coordinates, robbing cops of the golden-hour advantage.
Personnel from Bengaluru’s Central Crime Branch and South division were sent out to Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Goa, Andhra Pradesh, and Telangana.
The three conspirators Annappa, Xavier and Gopal Prasad — all from Bengaluru — were arrested based on CCTV analysis and Rs 5.76 crore was recoveredfrom them.
3 nabbed from Hyd lodge
Based on their information, their three other accomplices were nabbed from a lodge in Hyderabad and Rs 53 lakh was recovered. Police are on the trail of two more suspects believed to be part of a sixto eight-member gang and are yet to recover Rs 82 lakh, the last missing tranche.
Constable Naik allegedly trained the group in executing the crime without leaving easy clues, while the CMS transport in-charge provided realtime movement details of the cash van. Xavier received the cash once the gang exited the city. An SUV used in the crime was found in Chittoor district, containing broken cash chests.
Commissioner Singh flagged lapses at CMS, stating RBI guidelines for cash transportation were violated. He said he would recommend cancellation of the firm’s licence.
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