BENGALURU: After a week of cat-and-mouse game, Domnic Roy, a driver of a cash management service who stole Rs 1.37 crore along with the vehicle, was arrested by Upparpet police on Tuesday. After stealing the cash on November 23, Domnic left the city with his family. On November 24, police had found the cash van with Rs 45 lakh and on Sunday, Domnic’s wife Evelyn Mary Roy was nabbed with Rs 79 lakh, leaving Domnic with the remaining Rs 13 lakh.
However, on Tuesday, when police nabbed Domnic on Tannery Road near KR Puram, he was empty-handed. Domnic told police that of the Rs 13 lakh, he cleared his loans of Rs 7 lakh and loaned the remaining money to his friends. He, however, did not reveal their names to the police.
Evelyn was nabbed when the family returned to the city. Domnic had left her saying he would meet her at home, but she was nabbed at Kullappa Circle near Banaswadi around 10.30pm.
A senior police officer said that Evelyn, during interrogation, had explained Domnic’s plan to steal the money.
Domnic was nabbed on Tuesday around 3.45am when he arrived in the city by bus from Salem in Tamil Nadu. Police said Domnic went to Salem to meet a relative, Gerald, who had helped him take loans. Domnic was also unaware that Evelyn was in police custody. Police had been tracking mobile phones of Domnic’s friends and relatives hoping he would contact them. When Domnic contacted Gerald, police tracked him down and questioned him to trace Domnic.
During interrogation, Domnic told police that he had planned in advance to steal the money and he had been waiting for the right time. On November 23, when he was alone in the cash van, he decided to escape with the money. The van belonging to Logicash, a cash management service, was parked on KG Road.
When Domnic reached Vasanthnagar, he took a cash box containing Rs 92 lakh, leaving behind another box containing Rs 45 lakh in the van. He took the cash box home and broke it open to shift the cash into a backpack. He and his wife along with their son immediately left the city by train to Coimbatore. The family stayed with Evelyn’s sister in Coimbatore for a day before leaving for Chalakudy, Kerala, where they stayed at a religious retreat centre for two days.
During interrogation, Domnic revealed that on November 23, he and his family had reached Shivajinagar around 2.45pm, went to a restaurant there before boarding the train at Cantonment railway station. They had used pay phones to contact relatives in order to avoid being traced.
A police source said the couple had a plan to distribute the money among relatives to help them with financial issues. Police said some of the cash was used for travel and other expenses. Upparpet police have taken Domnic into custody for four days.