Axis Bank, India's third largest private sector lender, became a victim of robbery to the tune of Rs 7.5 crore when employees of a cash transfer agency hired for transporting the money within Karnataka allegedly escaped with the cash. They abandoned the vehicle near Hunsur, approximately 160 km from Bengaluru.
The bank had hired SIS Prosegur Holdings Pvt. Ltd. to transfer the cash from its Yayyadi branch in Mangaluru to the branch in Koramangala. The vehicle had left its origin on Thursday.
Axis Bank confirmed the incident.
"In this incident, the cash was being transferred by SIS PROSEGUR HOLDING PVT LTD , a Cash Transfer Agency and the amounts being transferred were fully insured. Neither the Van in question nor the staff involved belonged to the bank," an official spokesperson for the bank said.
The four employees of the agency allegedly involved in the incident are: custodian Parashuram, driver Karibasappa, and two gunmen, TP Basappa and TA Poovanna, who had started from the Mangaluru branch with the amount along with an authorisation letter from the Yeyyadi branch manager Ranjit.
While the police claimed that the vehicle was not fitted with a GPS device, the bank sought to dispel it. "Our cash transfer systems and processes are robust and fully compliant with existing regulations," the spokesperson said.
The matter is being investigated by the police that have constituted a team to crack the case.
In a similar incident last November in Bengaluru, the driver of a logistics agency had escaped with money belonging to Bank of India. Dominic Selvaraj Roy, the 43-year-old driver, along with his wife Evelyn Mary was arrested six days later in Bengaluru.
On November 24, he fled with the cash stash of Rs 92 lakh out of Rs 1.37 crore, and took the boxes to a shop to break open the seal. The police could recover Rs 79 lakh from him, since he had used about Rs 13 lakh to repay debt.
Roy was caught by the police using matchmaker Gerald as bait; he was instrumental in getting Roy and Mary getting married. The couple had decided to repay all their debt and settle down in Dubai.
In yet another incident a month later, a driver had escaped with Rs 20 lakh belonging to the State Bank of Mysore, but abandoned it after failing to break open the seal of the cash box. The crime was allegedly committed by Ceaban Hussain Mazumder, who was working for Secure Value.
