Bengaluru witnessed one of the biggest robberies on Wednesday (Nov 19), when a group of men pretending to be officials from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) carried out a well-planned daylight heist. The gang stole Rs 7.11 crore from an ATM cash van in south Bengaluru and escaped without any resistance, leaving the police struggling to understand how everything happened so smoothly.

What happened 

Around 9:30 am, a cash van belonging to CMS Inno System Ltd began its daily routine from JP Nagar. Inside the van were driver Binod Kumar, custodian Afthab, and two armed guards, Rajanna and Tammayya. By 12:24 pm, they had collected Rs 7.11 crore from the HDFC currency chest. The money was packed into cash boxes, and the team was on its way to refill ATMs across the city.

The trouble began near the Ashoka Pillar in Jayanagar. The cash van was suddenly blocked by several cars, including a Maruti Zen and an Innova with a government sticker. Around five to six men stepped out and introduced themselves as RBI officials. They told the van staff that the company had violated RBI rules and that they needed to check documents and record statements.

Earlier, police thought the gang had posed as Income Tax officers, but later confirmed they used fake RBI IDs. The men ordered all four staff members to step out of the van. Three of them, the custodian and two gunmen, were pushed into the gang’s Innova. They were told that the cash boxes had to be taken to the RBI office and that their statements would be recorded at the police station.

Driver Kumar was kept separate and was told to continue driving the van. This move allowed the robbers to isolate the guards from the cash without any fight.

The main robbery on the flyover

When Kumar reached the Dairy Circle flyover, the gang attacked again. They stopped the van, pointed a gun at him, and forced him to hand over all three cash boxes. The Rs 7.11 crore was quickly shifted into a Maruti WagonR. The robbers then disappeared within minutes.

The three kidnapped staff members were released near Dairy Circle, unharmed but shocked. The cash van, abandoned by the gang, was later found on Hosur Road using GPRS tracking. The robbers had removed the DVR system, which stored the van’s CCTV footage, making it harder for the police to trace them.The entire operation took just 30 minutes.

Bengaluru Police Commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh said that officers were checking more than 50 CCTV cameras across the city. He admitted that getting details from the shaken staff took time, but added that special teams and checkpoints had been set up everywhere.

Home Minister H. Parameshwara called it a “first-of-its-kind” robbery in Bengaluru. He said the police had already found important clues and that the chief minister had instructed them to solve the case as quickly as possible.