India: Bangalore bank driver 'makes off with $134,000'

Most ATMs are quickly running out of cash

Police in the Indian city of Bangalore are hunting for the driver of a van carrying cash for ATMs, who is accused of stealing 9.2m rupees ($134,000; £107,000) in new 2,000 rupee notes.

Dominic Selvaraj is accused of driving off with the van while his colleague went inside a bank to use the toilet.

Police said the vehicle was found abandoned in Bangalore the same day.

ATMs have seen long lines since India banned 500 and 1,000 rupee notes in an effort to crack down on corruption.

The government has introduced new 500 and 2,000 rupee notes, but these are still in the process of being injected into the economy and banks often run out of the new money.

Senior police official Charan Reddy told BBC Hindi's Imran Qureshi that Mr Selvaraj had been hired as a driver three weeks ago by a firm that transfers cash between ATMs and banks.

"`He has not taken the [van] guard's rifle. We have set up four teams to track him down," Mr Reddy said.

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Another police official said "the van did not have a GPS facility".

"We found it strange that one set of the keys to the cash chest [in the van] was also given to the driver," he added.

There have been chaotic scenes in India ever since the currency ban was announced two weeks ago.

It has brought India's largely cash economy to a virtual standstill as the two banned notes accounted for 86% of the money in circulation.

People have been told they can deposit or change their old notes in banks until 30 December.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who made the surprise announcement in an address to the nation, said the decision was made to target people who have hoards of unaccounted cash, known in India as "black money".