Davanagere l
In a breakthrough that came five months after a daring bank heist, Karnataka Police have arrested six individuals and recovered over 17 kg of stolen gold—worth nearly ₹13 crore—from a remote irrigation well in Madurai district, Tamil Nadu.
The robbery, which took place at the State Bank of India’s Nyamati branch in Davanagere district in October 2024, had baffled investigators due to the complete absence of conventional evidence—no fingerprints, no CCTV footage, no toll or mobile data trails. The heist was meticulously planned and executed, drawing inspiration from crime web series and YouTube tutorials.
The Accused and Their Motive
The mastermind behind the theft, Vijay Kumar (30), was a sweet shop owner in Nyamati who had earlier been denied a ₹15 lakh loan by the same bank. Determined to overcome financial difficulties, he decided to rob the bank—reportedly taking cues from shows like Money Heist.
He roped in his brother Ajay Kumar (28), brother-in-law Paramananda (30), and three local associates—Abheesheka (23), Chandru (23), and Manjunath (32)—to carry out the robbery.
Interestingly, all three core members of the gang hailed from Tamil Nadu but had been running a business in Nyamati for several years.
How the Heist Was Executed
The robbers broke into the bank over the October 28, 2024 weekend. They entered through a side window after removing its iron grilles, used gas cutters to open a locker in the strongroom, and fled with 17.7 kg of pledged gold ornaments.
They also took away the DVR containing CCTV footage, and to avoid tracking by sniffer dogs, sprinkled chilli powder across the premises. The police later discovered that even the serial numbers on oxygen cylinders used for gas cutting had been ground off.
How the Police Cracked the Case
Under the supervision of SP Uma Prashanth, and led by ASP Sam Varghese, multiple investigation teams worked round the clock. They scanned CCTVs across a 50-km radius, combed through toll and cell tower data, and conducted foot searches within an 8-km radius.
But for months, the robbers left no trace. It wasn’t until recent technical evidence linked individuals in Tamil Nadu to associates in Nyamati that the investigation took a decisive turn.
Soon after, the police arrested all six suspects. Further operations led to the dramatic recovery of a locker containing 15 kg of gold, which had been dumped in a 30-foot-deep well in Usilampatti, a town in Madurai.
From Fiction to Reality
Police sources confirmed that the entire operation was planned for over six to nine months. Vijay Kumar had used YouTube to study how to carry out a silent robbery, right from selecting the right tools to how to avoid leaving digital footprints.
Now behind bars, the gang’s story serves as a grim reminder of how popular media content is being misused to plan real-life crimes—and how critical technical forensics and sustained police work are in bringing such criminals to justice.
