Posing as pilgrims, Karnataka cops track 2 men wanted in Rs 93 lakh robbery

The biggest challenge for investigators now is to recover the Rs 93 lakh allegedly stolen in the Bidar robbery.

“Since it is almost 19 months after the robbery, we have to find out where they have hidden the money and how they have used it. We have to recover the money,” Pradeep Gunti, Superintendent of Police, Bidar, said Thursday after coming back from Bihar.

Gunti led the two teams involved in the operation.

The hunt in Bihar had been on since last year’s robbery. The Karnataka Police initially worked with their Bihar counterparts but began an independent operation 20 days ago.

How the robbery happened

The robbery took place around 11.30 am on January 16, 2025, at Shivaji Chowk in Bidar. Two helmeted men on a motorcycle allegedly opened fire on security personnel as a cash-delivery van arrived to load money into a State Bank of India ATM.

According to the police, six rounds were fired. Cash security guard Giri Venkatesh, 40, was killed, while another guard, Shivakumar, was injured. The attackers fled with Rs 93 lakh and were initially traced to Hyderabad.

The investigation took another turn that evening when the same men allegedly shot a travel agency manager in Hyderabad while attempting to board a bus to Raipur in Chhattisgarh.

The site in Bidar where two armed men allegedly robbed Rs 93 lakh from an SBI cash-delivery van in January 2025. (Express Photo/Special Arrangement)

According to the owner of the travel agency, Rais Ahmad, the manager, Jahangir, opened one of the men’s bags after becoming suspicious, found bundles of cash inside, and was allegedly shot.

How police tracked them

Investigators subsequently identified the suspects as Aman Kumar, from Fatehpur Phulwaria in Vaishali district, and Alok Kumar, also known as Ashutosh or Ambani, from Mahisour near Janadhaha in the same district.

The police announced a Rs 5-lakh reward for information leading to their arrest.

The Karnataka Police then began an independent operation in Vaishali. A team spent about 20 days tracking the suspects’ family members and relatives and identifying places they were likely to visit, officers said.

Some members of the team moved around the area dressed as religious pilgrims to avoid drawing attention.

“We were watching their movement for over 20 days. We got information that they could be reaching a particular place on Wednesday and we laid a trap and were waiting,” Gunti said.

The police had information that the men might arrive in Damodarpur village. On Wednesday, the two arrived on a motorcycle and were intercepted by two teams of Karnataka Police, according to officers.

The operation involved the Bidar SP, two deputy superintendents of police, two inspectors, four sub-inspectors, assistant sub-inspectors and constables. One assistant sub-inspector suffered a hand injury during the operation and is undergoing treatment, police sources said.

“It was one of the longest manhunts in recent times for the Karnataka police,” a senior police officer said.

The money is still missing

Following the arrests, investigators are now trying to establish what happened to the Rs 93 lakh that was stolen in Bidar.

The Karnataka Police said the two men are also wanted in connection with cases in Telangana, Bihar, and Uttar Pradesh. They said they are wanted in armed robbery cases in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, besides the January 16, 2025, shooting of a travel agency manager in Hyderabad following the Bidar robbery.

“We are happy that the Karnataka Police team was able to achieve this breakthrough. The police from all the states were trying to find the duo, but we made extra efforts to find them,” Gunti said.