The ₹13 crore SBI bank heist inspired by Money Heist

India Today

What happens when a rejected loan turns into a high-stakes bank heist? Meet Vijaykumar and his five-member gang, who pulled off a daring ₹13 crore gold robbery at SBI Nyamati bank. Here’s how they cracked the case and recovered the stolen loot.

Transcript

00:00Loan rejection, financial struggle, and a real-life money heist.

00:05This is the story of a six-member gang who pulled off a real-life money heist at the

00:08State Bank of India in Karnataka's Davangere.

00:11The Karnataka police have finally cracked the high-profile Niyamati SBI Bank theft case

00:15in Davangere, recovering nearly the entire stolen gold worth approximately 13 crore rupees

00:21on March 31, 2025.

00:23On October 28, 2024, SBI Bank, Niyamati, Karnataka.

00:28The gang's staff walked in after a chill weekend to find one of their strong-room lockers

00:31sliced open like a birthday cake.

00:33Missing?

00:34A cool 17.7 kg of pledged gold.

00:37Our wannabe professor Vijay Kumar and his gang got in through a window, used a cutter

00:41to break into the locker, stole the bank's DVR, and sprinkled chilli powder to mislead

00:47investigators and hinder forensic analysis.

00:50The FIR was filed at the Niyamati police station under various sections of the BNS-2023.

00:55Top officials including the IGP, SP and forensic teams immediately assessed the situation

01:00under the supervision of ASP Sam Virgis and SP Uma Prashant.

01:04According to the police, the burglars went full Sherlock, combing an 8-kilometre radius,

01:09checking CCTV from a 50-kilometre range, pulling mobile tower data and even tracking interstate

01:14toll movements.

01:15Acting on intelligence, officers arrested the real masterminds behind the heist – Vijay

01:19Kumar, Ajay Kumar, Abhisheka, Chandru, Manjunath and Parmananda.

01:24Vijay Kumar, struggling with financial difficulties after his Rs 15 lakh loan application was

01:29rejected in August 2023, meticulously planned the heist to overcome his money troubles.

01:35Over several months, he carried out multiple night-time reconnaissance visits to study

01:39the bank's security systems.

01:41Hours of YouTube tutorials later, he knew exactly what tools to get silent hydraulic

01:45cutters, gas-cutting equipment, and even took the extra step of wiping serial numbers of

01:50gas cylinders.

01:51So, how did they get caught?

01:53After arresting the accused, police launched a massive recovery operation across Tamil

01:57Nadu, focusing on Ussilampatti in Madurai district.

01:59The police traced the loot to jewellery stores and financial institutions.

02:03According to the police, Vijay Kumar had planned to hide it for two years to evade suspicion,

02:07while some stolen gold was pledged under false identities or sold at jewellery shops, now

02:12fully recovered by them.

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