Armed men posing as officials from India's central bank have robbed a vehicle transporting 70m rupees ($800,000; £600,000) in the southern state of Karnataka, police say.
A massive operation has been launched to find the men who robbed the van in the heart of Bengaluru city in daylight.
The robbery occurred on Wednesday afternoon. Six men in an SUV stopped a cash transport van on a busy road as it was moving money between bank branches, Bengaluru police commissioner Seemant Kumar Singh stated.
The van was carrying a driver, a cash custodian, and two armed security guards.
Mr. Singh mentioned the robbers claimed they were officials from the Reserve Bank of India needing to verify documents for transporting the large sum of cash.
They ordered the van's occupants to leave their weapons behind and enter their SUV, instructing the driver to continue driving with the cash.
Following a short distance, the assailants forced the driver out, emptied the cash van at gunpoint, and fled.
The incident took place in an area with limited CCTV coverage, and police are investigating the possibility of multiple vehicles being involved.
The cash transportation service has lodged a complaint with the police.
The SUV used in the heist had a fake number plate and bore a sticker reading 'Government of India', a police source revealed.
Authorities are also exploring whether any employees from the cash service were complicit in the robbery.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced that police have recovered the SUV used in the crime, although Home Minister G Parameshwara stated the escape vehicle remains unidentified.
He expressed confidence in the police's ability to quickly resolve the case, reflecting on their success with past bank robbery cases in the state.
In a previous incident earlier this year, 59kg of gold worth 532.6m rupees was stolen from a bank using a duplicate key, with many arrests made since then.
