Vijayapura police have formed multiple special teams to investigate the robbery at the State Bank of India branch in Chadachan.

Superintendent of Police Laxman Nimbargi has formed at least four teams to study various aspects of the offence and trace the accused, police sources said.

Preliminary inquiry revealed an interesting nugget. The robbers had a brief tryst with a herd of sheep.

According to a complaint by SBI officials, around 20 kilograms of gold and ₹1.4 crore of cash were stolen at gun point by the robbers. They tied the hands and legs of the officers and staff, and fled away with the money on September 16.

According to the complaint by Tarakeshwar Gangappa Venkatesh, branch manager, a person entered the bank holding a half-filled current opening form. The accused met the manager and some officers to seek their help. However, they told him to come back after filling the form properly.

After a few minutes, when they tried to close the accounts and lock the lockers, as part of their activities at the end of the day, three persons forced them to hand over the valuables.

All three accused were wearing COVID masks. They were holding guns and knives.

They tied up 10 persons in the bank -- six staff and four customers -- using plastic tags. They made away with ₹1.4 crore in cash. They also emptied 298 of 425 lockers in the bank.

The quantum of valuables, including gold jewellery, is estimated to be around 20 kg. Most of this gold was kept for obtaining loans. However, the bank officials were unable to provide exact estimates of the stolen goods as the bank's LAN network was faulty.

The complaint states that the accused were between 20-30 years old, and spoke in Hindi. They wore black T-shirts, trousers and caps. The complainant has expressed confidence that he could identity the accused if he sees them again.

The accused had used a getaway car that had a fake number plate. They were headed to the inter-State border towards Pandharpur in Maharashtra. When they entered Hulajanti in Solapur district in Maharashtra, a herd of sheep blocked the road and their vehicle met with an accident with a two-wheeler. This led to an argument with local; villagers. However, they left the spot after threatening the villagers.

Officers from the Chadachan police station have booked a First Information Report.

Mr. Nimbaragi said that the police were focused are hopeful of solving the crime soon.

Special teams formed to investigate Vijayapura SBI branch robbery