In a shocking incident that has left Bengaluru residents stunned, a 78-year-old senior citizen found himself unexpectedly connected to one of the city's biggest daylight robberies when criminals used his car's registration number during a sophisticated Rs 7.11 crore ATM heist.
The Unexpected Police Visit
Gangadhar, a 78-year-old Bengaluru resident who runs a business after working in Dubai for several years, was sleeping peacefully when his Wednesday afternoon took an unexpected turn. A police officer knocked on his door with questions about his car, leaving the senior citizen completely bewildered.
"I was sleeping when the police officer arrived," Gangadhar told IndianExpress.com. "He initially asked me about my car's registration number and for how many years I had used the car. He did not tell me about the robbery. I was not worried but wanted to know why it was in focus."
At first, Gangadhar suspected his car number or identity documents might have been misused by narcotics gangs. Little did he know that his vehicle's registration number - KA 03 NC 8052 - had just been flashed across news channels as being involved in one of Bengaluru's most audacious crimes.
The Sophisticated ATM Heist
The robbery, which ranks among Bengaluru's largest daylight heists, saw criminals make off with Rs 7.11 crore from an ATM logistics vehicle. The perpetrators arrived in an Innova car bearing Gangadhar's registration number and posed as officials from the Income Tax department and Reserve Bank of India.
Police investigations later revealed that the Innova's registration number had been forged, and the actual number belonged to Gangadhar's Swift car, which was safely parked at his home throughout the entire incident. The criminals had carefully chosen his number from among millions of vehicles registered in Bengaluru.
A Senior Citizen's Disbelief
Gangadhar expressed both shock and confusion at why his particular vehicle number was selected for this criminal enterprise. "While it is a serious offence and amounts to the misuse of the number, what really surprises me is that my number was chosen from the numbers of millions of vehicles in Bengaluru," he said.
The 78-year-old noted that this marked the first time a police officer had ever visited his home, describing the officer as "very soft spoken." By the time news channels began flashing his registration number linked to the massive heist, the police had already verified that his Swift car was parked at his residence and he had provided them with the genuine registration details.
The incident has raised serious questions about vehicle registration security and how criminals are able to obtain and misuse legitimate registration numbers for sophisticated crimes. Bengaluru police continue their investigation into the Rs 7.11 crore heist while Gangadhar remains puzzled about why his car became an unwitting participant in one of the city's most talked-about crimes.
