Indian police uncover $800,000 bank robbery, three arrested

Three people have been arrested in a daring robbery worth 70 million rupees ($800,000; £600,000) in India after armed men posing as central bank officials robbed an ATM cash withdrawal van.

Police in the southern city of Bengaluru said on Saturday they had cracked the case and recovered 57.6 million rupees stolen three days ago.

“Our investigation is on track to obtain the remaining amount,” Bengaluru police commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh told reporters.

Singh later told the BBC that three suspects had been detained. “We are looking for two to three more,” he added.

Those arrested include Gopal Prasad, an employee of cash transport company CMS, J Xavier, a former employee of CMS, and local police constable Annappa Naik.

The robbery took place in broad daylight in Bengaluru’s Lalbagh area.

The thieves impersonated Reserve Bank of India officials. They stopped the transporter and said they had to check documents for such a large amount of money.

The car’s cash keeper and two security guards were directed into an SUV while one of the gang members took control of the van, police said.

Police said the gang changed vehicles, used fake number plates and chose locations with minimal CCTV coverage to move the cash boxes.

On Wednesday, Karnataka and the neighboring states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Goa deployed more than 200 police officers in a massive manhunt.

Singh said detectives were investigating the role of CMS and possible breaches of cash transfer guidelines.

He added: “Vans should not follow the same routes and times repeatedly in order to become predictable.”