Taking lessons from Money Heist, 6 loot gold from SBI branch in Karnataka

Five months after a

bank burglary

in Karnataka's

Davanagere

district, police have revealed that the mastermind, Vijay Kumar from TN's Madurai, had watched crime drama '

Money Heist

' 15 times, apart from bank robbery documentaries and YouTube videos before targeting an SBI branch from where he looted 17.7kg of gold worth nearly Rs 16 crore.
All six suspects, who were first-time offenders, have been arrested. A total of 17kg gold has been recovered. Vijay had previously applied for a Rs 15 lakh loan with the branch for his bakery business but his application was rejected due to a low Cibil score. "Vijay was frustrated and the loan rejection was the main motive," said Davanagere IG Ravikante Gowda.
The suspects allegedly bought hand gloves, gas-cutters and chilli powder. They did recces of the bank for six months, even when the branch was shut. None of them used cellphones. After burgling the bank on the night of Oct 26, 2024, they buried the gold at a farmhouse belonging to Vijay in Madurai. Since they had sprinkled chilli powder at the scene of crime, sniffer dogs lost the trail after a distance.