Mysuru: A special investigation team has spread a dragnet in Mysuru district to nab the four persons who made away with Rs. 7.5 crore ATM cash that was supposed to be carried to Bengaluru from Mangaluru.

In a case that reminds of an incident that occurred in November 2016 when ATM vehicle driver in Bengaluru Dominic Selvaraj fled with Rs. 92 lakh meant for an ATM, four employees from a cash transfer agency in Mangaluru made away with Rs. 7.5 crore from Axis Bank on Thursday. They were to carry it from Yeyyadi to the bank’s Koramangala branch in Bengaluru.

On Thursday morning, driver Karibasappa, custodian Parashuram and gunmen T.A. Poovanna and T.P. Basappa of the firm arrived in a vehicle at the Yeyyadi branch at around 8.30 a.m. They left the branch with the money and also the authorisation letter of Yeyyadi branch manager Ranjit to take the money to Koramangala branch.

Sachin, in-charge of SIS Prosegur, Mangaluru branch, in his complaint, said the four personnel had failed to take the money to Koramangala or return it to the Yeyyadi branch. He accused the four of criminal breach of trust and cheating.

Following the incident, Mangaluru City Police Commissioner Chandrashekhar formed two teams comprising 16 members. While one team is headed by Mangaluru South Sub-Division Assistant Commissioner of Police Shruthi, the other team is headed by Kankanadi Inspector Kantharaju.

Speaking to Star of Mysore, ACP Shruthi said that her team was on the lookout for the accused in Bengaluru while Inspector Kantharaju’s team was scouting for the accused in Mysuru, Hunsur and Periyapatna.

“The accused are not using their mobile phones and we are scanning CCTV footages along the route from Mangaluru to Mysuru. It looks like the accused had taken the Madikeri route in a well-planned robbery. We are also looking at the involvement of Bheemaiah, an office assistant in the firm’s Bengaluru office, who is a relative of Poovanna and Basappa,” she said.

While it is mandatory for an armed police escort to be present during such transfers, the police were not even informed. Flouting several rules of the RBI, there was nobody monitoring the movement of the vehicle as it had no GPS, she added.