Somwarpet: One of the accused absconding with Rs 7.5 Crore cash meant for an ATM in Bengaluru committed suicide at a residence in Bengaluru on February 13.

Basappa, a native of Kumbaragadige village in Somwarpet taluk, employed as gunman ended his life, after he remained untraceable for months by police. He was residing with his wife and children and police have registered a case of unnatural death.

Based on the details provided by complainant Thambukuttira P Muddaiah, the Somwarpet Police have registered a case in connection with the incident and are investigating further.

Case history:

On 10 May 2017, four men employed with a private cash management company, Sis Prosegur Holdings, were part of the team transporting Rs 7.5 Crore from Mangaluru to an ATM in Bengaluru. They were entrusted with ferrying the cash from Axis Bank’s Yeyyadi branch in Mangaluru to Bengaluru’s Koramangala branch.

The van had three people and as soon as the gunman and a supervisor got down at the ATM, the driver had sped away with the van.

Mangaluru City Police Commissioner had formed a 16-member special team to track the case. The team was led by two assistant commissioners of police – Shruthi and Valentine D’Souza.

The accused were then identified as Parashurama hailing from Hubbali, Karibasavaiah hailing from Chitradurga and Basappa and Poovanna from Kodagu. Parashurama was the designated bank custodian while Karibasavaiah was the driver. Basappa and Poovanna worked as gunmen.

Days after the incident, the accused’s wife was arrested as she allegedly possessed a portion of the stolen money. Few others were arrested from Somwarpet on May 16 and Rs 6.3 Crore of the total sum Rs 7.5 Crore was recovered from them.