Karnataka's SBI bank robbed in 'Money Heist' style, police recovers gold

In a plot reminiscent of the hit Netflix show 'Money Heist', a Karnataka man who felt wronged by the bank that rejected his loan application took it upon himself to avenge the insult by robbing it of 17.7 kg of gold worth Rs 13 crore.

 

When the Karnataka police finally solved the high-profile robbery at the Nyamati State Bank of India (SBI) branch in Davanagere, recovering nearly all the stolen gold, they discovered the culprits had modeled their escapade along the lines of the show, barring the masks and the hostages.

 

The crime, which took place in October 2024, shocked the local community when 17.7 kg of gold ornaments belonging to bank customers, was found to have been stolen.

 

On October 28, 2024, after a long weekend, when bank officials walked into the branch, they found the strongroom locker broken: the burglars had used a gas cutter to slice their way into the vault. But that was just the beginning.

 

The criminals had planned the heist with disturbing precision. They broke in through a window after removing the iron grill and made off with the yellow metal. But they didn’t stop there. In an attempt to sabotage the investigation, they also stole the bank’s CCTV cameras as well as the digital video recorder (DVR) and spread chilli powder across the crime scene, hoping to confuse forensic experts and the canine team.

 

The robbery triggered an immediate response from local authorities, and an FIR was filed at Nyamati Police Station under several sections of the BNS, 2023. It still took investigators a good months and a few false leads to track down the six robbers and retrieve what was left of the stolen gold.

 

Immediately after the discovery of the crime, the police began an exhaustive search. Teams scoured an 8 km radius around the bank, reviewed CCTV footage from a 50 km area, and analysed mobile tower data and toll records across state borders. But, like Money Heist's lead character 'Professor', the thieves, too, appeared to have thought of all contingencies.

 

However, as the investigation progressed, the team began to uncover what they thought were links to previous crimes. They discovered connections to an attempted robbery at the SBI branch in Holehonnur, Bhadravati, in August 2024. This led investigators to the notorious Kakrala gang from Badayun, Uttar Pradesh, known for similar crimes in southern India. Between November 2024 and February 2025, the police launched operations in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Delhi, and Uttar Pradesh. These efforts resulted in the arrest of five key members of the Kakrala gang — Guddu Kalia, Aslam alias Tantun, Hazarath Ali, Kamruddin alias Sareilly Babu, and Babu Sahan.

 

As it turned out, despite their past criminal records, none of them had any connection to the Nyamati robbery, and the investigation seemed to have hit a wall.

 

The Nyamati 'Professor'

 

Just when it seemed like the case might go cold, police uncovered a new set of suspects with ties to Tamil Nadu. Acting on fresh intelligence, the officers finally arrested the true masterminds behind the daring heist: Vijaykumar, Ajaykumar, Abheesheka, Chandru, Manjunath, and Paramananda.

 

As it turned out, the multi-state manhunt had been for nothing: the main conspirators - Vijaykumar and Ajaykumar, along with their brother-in-law Paramananda - had been right under the cops' noses; for years they had run a small sweets business in Nyamati. The other three arrested were locals. But it was Vijaykumar, the mastermind, who had meticulously planned the robbery for over six months, taking notes and inspiration from TV shows like 'Money Heist' and learning burglary techniques from YouTube videos.

 

According to a newspaper report, a police officer said Vijay was inspired by ‘Money Heist’, built a team and watched the series multiple times. “He also saw many videos on YouTube on the materials needed to be used for the heist. The entire plan took nearly six months before they executed it,” the officer told the Indian Express.

 

Vijaykumar’s motive wasn’t just greed: it was a mix of financial need and revenge. After his application for a Rs 15 lakh loan was rejected in August 2023 on account of a low credit score, as per the Indian Express report, Vijaykumar got a relative to apply on his behalf. When that too was rejected, he decided to do away with niceties and just take what he wanted. He spent months secretly visiting the bank at night, studying its security systems. The meticulous planning was evident in the execution of the deed: he acquired hydraulic cutters and gas-cutting tools, even going to the extent of grinding off serial numbers on gas cylinders to avoid leaving a trace.

 

But the planning didn’t stop at just the break-in. To cover their tracks, the gang stole the bank’s CCTV DVR and spread chilli powder around the crime scene to throw the forensics team off their track. It seemed like they had thought of every detail. And it almost worked.

 

Breakthrough in investigation

 

Investigations that linked persons from Tamil Nadu with Nyamati locals finally led police to Usalampatti, a town in Tamil Nadu’s Madurai district, where a breakthrough finally emerged. In a daring operation, officers, aided by expert swimmers, recovered a locker containing nearly 15 kg of gold from a 30-foot-deep irrigation well. Further investigation revealed that the remaining stolen gold had been pledged or sold to jewellery shops and financial institutions by the accused.

 

With this key discovery, the police finally pieced together the entire puzzle, recovering nearly all of the stolen gold and arresting the gang responsible for the high-profile heist.

 

It also didn't help that Vijaykumar had decided to flaunt his new-found wealth. He distributed Rs 1 lakh each to Abhishek, Chandru, and Manjunath, built a house in the village, and purchased several plots of land, according th the IE report.