Mysuru: In a daring daylight robbery, a gang of around seven persons barged into an office belonging to a businessman and made away with Rs. 29,66,840 lakh in cash in the upmarket Gokulam locality yesterday. The incident that occurred in broad daylight and in a busy area has shocked the residents.

The incident was reported from Gokulam 3rd Stage (on the 4th Main, 9th Cross near Vidyavardhaka Engineering College) at the office of Naveen Kumar Gupta, the proprietor of Kyathi Steel Company based in Thandya in Nanjangud taluk. The company has its head office at Yadavagiri and the Gokulam office was opened to make payments to transport operators and traders of steel scrap.

POSED AS CBI SLEUTHS

According to the Police and the staff managing the Gokulam office that was on the first floor, the gang barged into the office at 11.45 am and told office Manager Vinod Kumar and scrap trader Shafi that they were CBI officers and demanded the keys of the shelves and cupboards. When the staff refused and instead asked them to show their ID cards, the miscreants got enraged and thrashed the staff. They forcibly took the keys and made away with cash.

CASH BROUGHT FROM HEAD OFFICE

Manager Vinod Kumar told the Police that he had brought Rs. 35 lakh cash from the Yadavagiri head office to his Gokulam office yesterday. He had given away Rs. 5 lakh as payment to some scrap dealers.

“Around 11.45 am, I noticed a gang alighting from a Tata Sumo vehicle. I saw them alighting the vehicle through CCTV cameras that were installed a couple of days back. As soon as I went out to make enquiries about the visitors, I was pushed back into the office. The men claimed that they were CBI officials and assaulted me when I asked for their ID cards,” Kumar told the Police.

The gang members then shut the entrance of the office snatched the keys of the shelves. They then opened the almirah and took away Rs. 29,66,840 lakh cash kept in a bag. They locked up Vinod Kumar and Shafi and escaped with the cash. Seeing that the office was under CCTV surveillance, the gang took away the hard disk that was connected to the cameras.

STAFF SHOUT FOR HELP

Later, Vinod Kumar shouted for help from the windows and when the door was opened by neighbours, he informed owner Naveen Kumar Gupta who lodged a complaint with City Police Commissioner Dr. A. Subrahmanyeswara Rao. He then sent City Crime Branch ACP Gopal, ACP Umesh G. Shet, Finger Prints Unit ACP Rajashekar, VV Puram Inspector Ravi and team to the spot.

INSIDER JOB?

Naveen Kumar Gupta used to purchase old and scrap iron and melt it. His Yadavagiri office used to deal with old and scrap iron. As loaders brought loads of scrap iron and argue for payments, Gupta had opened another office at Gokulam.

According to the Police, only scrap traders and lorry owners knew that cash is dealt with at Gokulam office. They have suspected the dacoity to be the handiwork of an insider.

The gang members were perhaps aware that the office Manager had brought in a large amount of cash to the Gokulam office.