Bengaluru, 22 Nov

Three people, including a police constable, have been arrested in connection with the Rs 7.11 crore robbery in the city following a manhunt involving over 200 personnel, City Police Commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh said here on Saturday.

Briefing reporters on the sensational heist where a gang posing as RBI officials decamped with the money, Singh said Rs 5.76 crore has been recovered so far, and efforts are on to trace the remaining amount.

"We had formed eleven teams and deployed 200 police officers and personnel for the job. More than 30 people were interrogated, and three have been arrested. They are the in-charge, ex-employee of CMS Infosystems and a police constable posted in Govindapura police station," Singh said.

Police sources said those arrested are Constable Annappa Naik, a former employee of CMS Info System, Xavier and vehicle-in-charge Gopi.

Six teams were sent to all the southern states and Goa to track the criminals involved, he added.

According to the official, the gang had planned the robbery for three months. They surveyed the cash van's route and chose a stretch without CCTV cameras.

On 19 November, unidentified men allegedly posing as RBI officials intercepted an ATM cash van here and decamped with approximately Rs 7 crore, reportedly the largest heist in the city to date.

The incident occurred when a vehicle belonging to CMS Info Systems was transporting cash from a private bank branch in JP Nagar, the city.

The criminals arrived in a car with a Government of India sticker, intercepted the van claiming they needed to verify documents, and forced the staff into their vehicle along with the cash.

They later dropped the staff near Dairy Circle and fled with the money.

Lauding the police team that cracked the sensational robbery, Singh said the three accused were identified and detained within 54 hours. Rs 5.76 crore was recovered within 60 hours, and a vehicle used in the crime was traced and seized.

The gang is estimated to consist of around six to eight persons, spread across planning, execution and post-crime movement of cash, he added.

Singh also said that by the end of the first 24 hours, the accused persons and the vehicles used were identified through specific inputs, which led to their arrest.

A hunt is on to trace others, he added.