Following a complaint from the KG Halli manager of Axis Bank, Bengaluru police are searching for an ATM driver who drove off with Rs 75 lakh cash meant for the ATMs on Nagawara main road on Monday. Abdul Shahid, who works with Writer Safeguard Private Limited, was on his routine rounds of driving the armoured van that carried Rs 1.2 crore cash to be filled in ATMs in Nagawara area of Bengaluru.
The 25-year-old man was accompanied by two custodians of the cash - Srishaila and Harish - and gunman Amit Singh. After filling cash in a few ATMs, the custodians and the gunman got down from the truck to fill cash in the Axis Bank ATM on Nagawara main road. Abdul then drove away way with the remaining Rs 75 lakh cash in the van. The KG Halli police, who are investigating the incident, believe that Abdul had alerted his accomplices, who followed the ATM cash van.
"The ATM is located on a narrow road. The ATM vehicle was stopped on the main road while the custodians and the gunman got down and carried the cash to the ATM. The driver, who was alone in the van, drove away with the cash inside it. After driving for a short distance, he abandoned the ATM vehicle, transferred the cash in a trunk and two heavy bags and loaded them into another vehicle, before escaping,” said a police official investigating the case.
Following the incident, Srishaila informed the bank manager, who then filed a complaint at the KG Halli police station.
Four days after the incident, the police are still on the lookout for Abdul Shahid and his accomplices. Police are reviewing the CCTV footages in the area to determine how Shahid escaped with the cash-filled bags.
Abdul, a native of Guwahati in Assam, is still on the run and the police are tracing the missing money. “We are yet to find the vehicle they escaped in and how many accomplices helped him," said a police officer investigating the incident.