He was just 30 years old and had not studied beyond Class 8. Yet, Vijaykumar planned the biggest and most daring bank heist in Karnataka with meticulousness and rehearsed it to such perfection with his gang of five that it ended up taking Karnataka police five months and a cross-country chase to nab them.
The heist involving 17.7 kilograms of pledged gold worth Rs 13 crore took place on October 28, 2024 at the State Bank of India (SBI) branch, Nyamati in Davangere district of Karnataka. Recently, the state police arrested a six-member gang including Vijaykumar, the prime accused, along with Ajaykumar (28), Abheesheka (23), Chandru (23), Manjunath (32) and Paramananda (30) and recovered the stolen gold almost 410 km away -- from a well in Usalampatti town in Madurai district.
Yes, this happens to be the very same Usalampatti that featured in the AR Rahman-music-directed Usalampatti Penkutti song from the 1993 hit film Gentleman.
Interestingly, that film had a hero, who carried out heists and robberies. But those had a larger purpose. Vijay is said to have told the police that he planned his mega heist simply because he was fed up with being poor and deprived.
The 'extremely intelligent' sweet shop owner
Three of the accused are related. Vijay and Ajay are brothers while Paramananda is their brother-in-law.
The three are originally from Tamil Nadu and own a sweetmeat shop in Nyamati. The other three accused, Abheesheka, Chandru and Manju are from Nyamati.
Vijay might not have had much of an education. But he is said to be extremely intelligent.
"This is the first time I came across such an intelligent criminal in my career of 28 years. Vijay led a well-planned and orchestrated bank heist, which was also the gang's first," said Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Davangere, Ravikanthe Gowda.
"They are all novices. He covered their tracks well with chilli powder and hid the stolen property in a well, in Usalampatti in Madurai, which he knew will not dry up in summer and end up exposing the booty," he went on to say.
"Only Vijay knew where he had hidden the gold. The other five accused trusted him blindly. He paid them Rs 1 lakh each after selling some of the stolen gold using which he also bought a house and site for himself in Usalampatti in Madurai," said the IGP.
The Theeran who planned a Money Heist
Vijaykumar, along with his other accomplices, had watched Money Heist and 2017 Tamil film Theeran (Warrior) on YouTube five to six times to internalise and sharpen his skills before attempting the heist.
His target -- the State Bank of India (SBI), Nyamati branch -- was where he had applied for a loan of Rs 15 lakh that ended up being turned down because of his low credit rating.
Vijay had reconnoitred the bank, which is located in a populated area with vast tracts of field behind it, rehearsed the plan and plugged all loopholes to ensure it would turn out to be the perfect dacoity.
The accused set out on foot, carrying gas cutters and oxygen cylinders, from which Vijay had erased the serial numbers.
After their arrest, Vijay spoke about what had driven him to commit the act.
"He said that he was ridiculed as an 'outsider' in Nyamati since his family hails from Madurai in Tamil Nadu. He wanted to upgrade his petty sweetmeat shop 'VIP Bakery' in Nyamati and prove to the locals that he was better off. His parents had met with an accident and he wanted money for their treatment," said an official source.
"Denial of loan was not the only reason why Vijay chose the branch for the robbery. The bank had very poor security. The strongroom is behind the counter and visible to the customers. A collapsible grill with a single lock that was meant to safeguard the strongroom was the first to fall after Vijay cut it open with the gas cutter before he opened the other lockers and emptied them out," said Superintendent of Police (SP), Davangere Uma Prashanth.
Before breaking open the strongroom, Vijay entered the manager's cabin and disconnected the communication network to prevent any alarm from being set off. He also disconnected the CCTVs, which were installed in the bank, and later, the gang carried away the DVR containing the CCTV footage while decamping with the loot.
"While disconnecting the communication system in the manager's cabin, a small alarm went off and was heard by some neighbours. They mistook it for a passing ambulance on the road," said another official source.
Entry, escape and the one mistake that did them in
The perpetrators entered the bank through a window on the left side of the main banking hall after removing the iron grill of the window.
Vijay and his brother went inside the bank while three others kept a watch outside. They did not use a mobile phone for fear of being detected by the police. The gang walked back more than three kilometres with the loot under the cover of darkness.
"Vijay had planned the timing of the dacoity in the wee hours of the morning after studying the police point book at the bank, which recorded that the beat constable was never around during this period," a well-informed source said.
After decamping with the gold, the looters made what in the end proved to be a fatal mistake. They covered their tracks with chilli powder. This was the one fact that made the crime distinct from the ones carried out by the Kakrala gang from Badaun district in Uttar Pradesh.
The gang, which is notorious for dacoities and bank heists in South India, was initially suspected to be behind the crime.
The police team, led by Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Channagiri Sub-Division, Davanagere District, Sam Varghese, had collected clues from places of failed bank theft attempts in Karnataka in the recent past.
This included the August 2, 2024 SBI bank theft attempt in Holehonnur, Bhadravati, which is 30 km from Nyamati. Technical evidence found then in this pursuit led to the probable conclusion that the theft was carried out by the Kakrala gang, which usually targeted banks surrounded by large fields.
The investigation teams conducted several operations across Gujarat, Rajasthan, Delhi and UP and finally, they were successful in apprehending five notorious members - Guddu Kalia, Aslam alias Tantun, Hazarath Ali, Kamruddin and Babu Sahan of the Kakrala gang. They were the absconding accused in several property offence cases in Karnataka between 2014 and 2024.
"But the discovery that chilli powder had been used in this crime alone made us conclude that the Kakrala gang was not behind the Nyamati bank heist," said a source.
He added that this evidence turned out to be like the proverbial needle in the haystack. "It turned the investigation on its head."
What followed
Under the supervision of the SP, Davanagere, combing operations and area domination exercises were conducted in an 8-km radius of the bank. Technical analysis of CCTVs in a 50-km radius, extensive cell and tower dumps and toll data from all inter-state tolls were collected by the investigation teams.
The toil bore fruit. And the cops managed to zero in on the accused, retrieving most of the stolen pledged gold. "This also comprised the thalis and mangalsutras of women, who must have pledged them as their last resort," said a cop.
After their arrest, Vijay led the police to the well in Usalampatti, where, with the help of swimmers, they recovered a locker with 15 kg of gold at a depth of 30 feet.
"Vijay had wrapped the gold in plastic and hid it inside a number locker. He covered it in sackcloth and lowered the locker into the well with a rope with the intention to retrieve it after two years to evade capture. Police also recovered gold that had been pledged in different financial institutions in the name of Vijay's relatives and gold sold at various jewellery shops during the past five months," the cop recalled.
A daring money heist in Karnataka had finally been solved, but not before serving a 'chilli'ng reminder for everyone involved that even first-time offenders can stretch the most determined of police teams.
