Thirty Minutes on a Bengaluru Flyover: The Heist That Stunned a City

Midday in Bengaluru felt ordinary, heat on the asphalt, traffic flowing steadily, and the city lost in its midweek grind. Inside a CMS cash van leaving JP Nagar, four staff members prepared for what they thought was another routine cash run carrying ₹7 crore. Unbeknownst to them, their familiar route had been quietly compromised. Within the next thirty minutes, a gang posing as RBI officials would stop the van, challenge their authority, and vanish with the entire cash load in one of Bengaluru’s most audacious daylight heists.

12:24 PM — The Cash Run Begins

Driver Binod Kumar adjusted his rearview mirror as the convoy pulled away from the HDFC currency chest. Behind him sat Aftab, the custodian tasked with monitoring the cash boxes — three of them that day, stuffed with ₹7.11 crore. Two armed guards, Rajanna and Tammayya, watched the city slide by through opposite windows, hands resting casually but purposefully near their weapons.

It was the kind of day these men had lived hundreds of times. But routine has a way of lulling you into believing nothing will ever go wrong.

12:40 PM — Ashoka Pillar: The Block

As the van approached Ashoka Pillar Junction, everything changed.

A Maruti Zen swerved abruptly in front of them, braking hard. Almost immediately, a Toyota Innova, dark-tinted and unmarked, rolled to a stop just behind them, sealing them in.

Before any of the staff could react, five to six men spilled out. They moved fast too fast. Their confidence didn’t merely suggest authority; it performed it.

“We’re from the RBI,” one man said sharply, flashing what looked like an official ID. Another pointed at the van with a sense of urgency.

“There’s a verification issue. Step out. Now.”

It wasn’t unusual for government officials to request checks. And the men looked the part, crisp shirts, clipped voices, absolute certainty. The guards hesitated, then obeyed.

That single moment of trust or confusion  would cost crores.

12:44 PM — The Van Is Hijacked

Within seconds, the script flipped.

The “officials” ushered the custodian and two guards toward the Innova. “Standard procedure,” they insisted. “We’ll take you for statements.”

To the driver, they issued a different order: Keep driving the van. We’ll follow.

Binod looked around helplessly. The guards were already being hurried into the other vehicle. He turned the ignition and rolled forward, the Innova shadowing him.

This wasn’t verification. This was a takeover.

12:50 PM — The Dairy Circle Flyover: The Real Trap

The two vehicles climbed onto the Dairy Circle flyover, the traffic thinning just enough to create an unsettling quiet.

“Stop here,” a voice commanded from the Innova behind him.

The driver braked.

A man strode up to his window, lifted his shirt just enough to expose the cold metal outline of a pistol, and said the words that removed all doubt:

“Get out. Don’t do anything stupid.”

What happened next lasted barely minutes but felt cinematic in its precision.

Two robbers opened the back of the cash van. Others popped open the trunk of a WagonR that had arrived almost unnoticed. In a choreographed blur, the cash boxes were hauled out, one after another, thudding into the getaway car.

Another robber yanked out the van’s DVR system — the only internal CCTV recording the van had.

“No footage, no faces,” one of them muttered.

Within moments, the WagonR sped off. The Innova followed. The Zen disappeared first, its driver weaving expertly into traffic.

And just like that, the flyover returned to its usual hum — except for one man trembling beside an empty van, the enormity of what had happened slowly crashing in.

1:00 PM — The Van Staff Regroup

A few kilometers away, the custodian and guards were drop-ped near Dairy Circle, dazed.

“Go to Siddapura station,” the impostors had told them before vanishing.

The four staff members reunited, disbelief etched on their faces. They had been outmaneuvered, separated, disarmed psychologically, and manipulated with the one tool no training prepares you for: official authority.

The Aftermath: A City Shaken

When the police were finally alerted, shock gave way to urgency.

A robbery like this carried out in broad daylight, in the heart of Bengaluru, by men impersonating Reserve Bank of India officials was unheard of.

Eight special teams were formed almost instantly. CCTV cameras from over 50 locations were pulled for review. Forensic teams tore apart the abandoned van for prints, fibers, anything.

But the gang had planned too well fake plates, no internal footage, timed routes, and flawless coordination.