DAVANGERE: The Davanagere district police on Monday successfully cracked one of the most infamous bank heists in the country and recovered 17 kg of gold worth Rs 13 crore after arresting six accused.
The police investigation revealed that the accused had watched “Money Heist” and other crime series on Netflix and other OTT channels and took extensive notes by going through endless YouTube videos before committing the crime. Their preparation went on for six months and when they robbed the bank, they did not leave a clue, sending the local police on a wild goose chase.
The six accused targeted Nyamathi branch of State Bank of India, only because the bank did not extend a loan to the heist mastermind who wanted to expand his bakery business. The theft took place on October 28, 2024.
Six teams of police took five long months before arresting Vijay Kumar, the mastermind, Ajay Kumar, Abhishek, Manjunath, Chandru and Paramanand.
The stolen 17 kg gold was recovered from a dilapidated well inside a deep jungle in Madurai, Tamil Nadu.
Vijay, Ajay and Paramanand, originally from Tamil Nadu, were running a bakery business in Nyamati for several years, while the other three, Manjunath, Abhishek, and Chandru, are local residents from Honnali and Nyamati.
While running away from the scene of the crime, the gang removed CCTV cameras and took away the digital video recorder (DVR). They threw chilli powder on their escape route to mislead dog squads.
Gang practised for 6 months to rob bank
The investigators first suspected an inter-state gang, as a similar bank robbery had occurred at Bhadravathi in Karnataka. The police even pursued a gang from Kakral in Uttar Pradesh, but later found that they were not involved. Later, the focus shifted to local suspects, leading to the identification of Vijay and his associates. The police said the their teams found certain technical evidence that revealed the involvement of persons from Tamil Nadu with associates in Nyamati. The police swiftly acted to apprehend the offenders and their interrogation revealed the involvement of Vijay and his accomplices.
Vijay was running a bakery and sweets shop named VIP Snacks in Nyamathi with his father for 25-30 years. He had applied for a loan of around Rs 15 lakh at SBI in March 2023 to develop the business. But his loan application was rejected as his credit score was poor. He applied again in the name of his relatives at the same bank. Again, it was rejected. That was when he formed his gang to steal from the bank, the police stated.
They practised for six months and sourced various equipment required for the robbery from local stores in Shivamogga and Nyamathi. Three months before the robbery, they had met at Surahonne school and prepared outlines of the robbery. They were confident that they will lead a life of luxury once they executed the heist, the police said. Soon after the crime, Vijay hid the gold in the trunk of a silver-coloured SUV in his house.
Later, he placed it in a small locker and hid it in a well belonging to his family in the Madurai forest. When things cooled down a bit, he took out some of the gold and deposited it in banks in his and relatives’ names and sold some in gold shops. He then gave Rs 1 lakh each to Abhi, Chandru, and Manju, built a big house in the village, and bought some plots.
The accused, during interrogation, told the police that they threw the hydraulic cutter, gas cylinder and other items used in the crime into a lake near Savalanga town. They also smashed the hard disk and DVR with a stone and then threw them into the lake. IGP (Eastern Range) Dr Ravikanthe Gowda said, “It was a professionally executed crime. They entered the branch through a window, cut the safe with a gas cutter and robbed gold jewellery.” The government has awarded the chief minister’s medal to 10 police personnel who successfully cracked the case. A special reward has also been announced for them.