Inspired by world famous web series Money Heist, a bank officer who is identified as Altaf Shaikh looted Rs. 34 crore from the bank cash chest. Mumbai Police arrested the bank custodian who tried stealing money in the same bank he was working. The news became a sensation as the Spanish web series enjoys a huge fan following across the globe.

Police department had said that the 43 year old mastermind worked as a cash custodian manager at the ICICI bank in Mumbai’s Dombivali. According to the Police officials, The case was cracked after nearly three months and around Rs. 9 crore was seized.

It has been reported that Shaikh was inspired from the web series “Money Heist” to steal from the bank’s chest. Being a cash custodian manager, Shaikh was well aware of the security systems installed in the bank.

The individual pulled off the heist through an air conditioning duct in the wall. He appointed three accomplices for him for the heist which included his sister Niloufer. She helped him in moving the cash from the bank to a rented place at Taloja in Navi Mumbai. In the preliminary investigation, Police found that Shaikh saw the air conditioning duct open during repairs a few months back and observed that the duct could be used for theft.

On 9th of July, the gang decided to execute their plan of stealing the money as it was day off for the bank and it’s officials. Shaikh disabled the alarm systems and removed al the hard disks of the CCTVs. As soon as the system was disabled, Shaikh executed his plan through the air conditioning duct.

Later, Shaikh informed the bank that the hard disks of the CCTV  recordings were stolen and filed a police complaint regarding the missing cash. Shaikh handed over Rs. 12 crore to his accomplices and took the remaining cash to the rented room in Taloja with his sister.

“Shaikh, a resident of Mumbra, had been working with the ICICI Bank as a custodian. As the custodian, he was the care taker of the keys of the bank’s locker. He spent a year planning the heist, studying the loopholes in the system, and gathering the tools to pull it off” a police officer said.

“We found that the rented room was in the name of Shaikh and his sister Niloufer and based on the details found during the investigation, it was found that Shaikh was the mastermind behind the theft” a senior Police officer said to the media. Police have arrested five people so far and has recovered Rs. 12 crore from them. They had earlier found Rs. 22 crore at the ICICI  bank branch in Thane during their probe into the heist in July this year.