Three people have been arrested in India after a daring 70m rupees ($800,000; £600,000) heist in which armed men posing as central bank officials robbed an ATM cash van.
On Saturday, police in the southern city of Bengaluru reported that they had cracked the case and recovered 57.6m rupees of the stolen money three days after the heist.
Our investigation is on track to get the remaining amount, Bengaluru police commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh told reporters. Singh mentioned that three suspects had been detained, and they are actively searching for two to three additional accomplices.
The arrested individuals include Gopal Prasad, a cash transport company employee, J Xavier, a former staff member of the same company, and Annappa Naik, a local police constable.
The robbery occurred in broad daylight in Bengaluru's Lalbagh area, where the gang members pretended to conduct checks on the cash transport vehicle, claiming to represent the Reserve Bank of India. They instructed the vehicle's cash custodian and two security personnel into another SUV while one gang member took control of the cash van.
Following the robbery, the perpetrators switched vehicles, used fake license plates, and chose routes with minimal CCTV coverage to transport the stolen cash.
In response, police organized a massive manhunt involving over 200 officers across Karnataka and neighboring states such as Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, and Goa.
Authorities are currently scrutinizing the role of the cash transport company, CMS, regarding possible breaches in cash transfer protocols. Singh emphasized that cash vans should vary their routes and timings to avoid being predictable.
