The Bengaluru police are on the lookout for the driver of a cash logistics management company after he allegedly drove away with Rs 99 lakh in cash on Friday.

The accused, 23-year-old Pawan, is a native of Mandya in Karnataka and had joined the company only a week ago. According to the police, he was tasked to drive three company staff, who would fill cash into the ATMs of ICICI Bank in the east division of the city.

The incident took place when the driver, along with three other staff of the cash management company, reached the ICICI ATM kiosk on Kamanahalli Road around 4.30 pm on Friday. 

While the two gunmen and the custodians entered the ATM, Pawan drove away with the van. The three initially thought he was taking time to park the vehicle. When he did not return, they alerted the police, who later found the vehicle abandoned in Lingarajapuram Flyover. 

According to the police, the accused fled with the amount of Rs 99 lakh, which was outside the locker in the van. Although there was more cash in the vehicle, the accused could not open the locker. 

Speaking on the issue, Rahul Kumar Shahpurwad, Deputy Commissioner of Police (East division) told The Hindu, “We have some clues about his whereabouts. We are confident that he will be nabbed soon.”  

The police are trying to trace him using CCTV footage and also concluded that the standard operating procedure was not followed at the time of the incident.

However, this is not the first time that such an incident has occurred in Bengaluru. 

In April 2018, the Bengaluru police had arrested a 24-year-old cash custodian from Kodagu after he had disappeared with Rs 52 lakh that was meant to replenish an ATM kiosk in Bengaluru.

The accused, Paramesh, took Rs 52 lakh to load the ICICI ATM near Thulasi Chitra Mandira in Marthahalli but found that the ATM was not in working condition. Instead of returning the money, he ran away with it.